Founders of the Wu Xing
by TheAzureTyphoon
Summary: A week has passed since Po saved China by defeating Shen, and new threat is looming on the horizon threating not just China, but the entire world. And this boy, who's so close to death, appears at the Palace for no reason. Just who is this child?
1. Ch1 The Dream and the Cub

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**: Sacred Scroll - Diqiu (Earth) :**

**Chapter 1: The Dream and the mysterious Cub**

**Quote: Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one. – Friedrich Halm**

A/N: Hello readers, one and all. It's nice to get back into the rhythm of things and such. If you are wondering, Yes, I will continue my story: The Baby, I'm just figuring out how to go about it. On to other matters, After Kung Fu Panda 2, I've got four words you. I FREAKIN' LOVED IT! Oh my god, you have no idea how long I've waited to see it. And oh man, it was AWESOME, just like Po said it would be! I'm so looking forward to the 3rd movie when it comes out. It was definitely at its best when Po improved his skills, I was definitely in shock when Tigress HUGGED PO AND PO HUGGED TIGRESS BACK! OMG! Anyways, now that I got my fanaticism, Let us proceed to the story now, shall we? Anyways, I'll be doing this story a bit differently. In case you are wondering why it says: Scared Scroll – Diqiu, it's going to go about the elements in that order. No, I'm not stealing anything from Avatar: the Last Air bender or its creator, if that's what you are wondering. And yes, I will be adding quotes for the chapter, to give you something to think about, and try to understand the chapter a little better.

So without further ado, let's begin.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE BIG FLUFFY PANDA, ya evil copyright pending demons… OH!

© Kung Fu Panda is property of DreamWorks.

It was the very early hours of morning in the Valley of Peace and the setting was a sedated dark, cloudy and calm time period, and all of the Valley residents were far gone in the realm of sleep and dreams while resting in their warm houses. Children were slumbering peacefully, as were the adults, thanks to the efforts of the Dragon Warriors recently known deeds in Gongmen City. It had been a busy day for everyone there, for they had finished the week long celebration of the defeat of the maniacal, power-craving peacock; Shen. The past week was a non-stop party of happiness, merriment, and jubilant outbursts. The only downside to that was that everyone had a whole lot of cleaning up to do in the morning. Either way, it was worth it. Just as the pleasant silence was continuing, it was not meant to last.

Down the abandon main streets of the Valley, a disturbance was taking place. Not a disturbance of a scuffle, but rather one on panting, trudging, stomach growling, some kind of metal was parting the ground and… weak weeping. And by the pitch behind the weeping, it was definitely that of a young boy. As the young boy looked around the silent Valley, he couldn't help but feel left out. The gentle sound of families enjoying their peaceful sleep and light snores only pushed the boy further to tears, to the point where his weak weeping turned to light audible sobs that only echoed gently off the homes surrounding him and reverberated back to him, increasing his loneliness…

For the lonely child had no family of his own.

"No one wants me… no one will accept me… no one wants to help me… Why… why me? What did I do to deserve this…" he muttered to himself.

A while back, in a another village nearby, as he made his way to through the town, he was treated so cruelly by the residents of the valley, thanks to the way he had tears and shreds in his lose hanging shirt, his pants riddle with holes and being held up by a dark purple belt, dirt covering his unkempt fur, his thin body, nicked left ear, a sheathed sword in his boney paw and the dried streak of red over his face. It looked like he had been in a fight and severely lost, repeatedly. As he was the prime target of disgusted glares, all he did was look down in embarrassment, when he was denied little food and continued on his way.

The men scowled, scaring him away.

The women gave him the icy shoulder and proceeded to make horrid gossip behind his back while snickering venomously which made the boy shudder.

The children called him names and pelted him with small stones, making him shed tears.

And the Elderly just looked at him from the side with their eyes narrowed while uttering an audible phrase: "What a filthy child!" or "You dirty little beast!" which caused him to consider his life worthless, fragment by fragment.

As he recalled the bad memories, he felt water begin to flow to his eyes, only this time he didn't hold them back, instead he let them flow freely and faster than ever.

"Mama… mommy… why did you leave me… why did you leave me all alone…" the young boy sobs and he placed his dirty, boney paws to his face and began to sob more, slightly hunched over.

But no one heard his lament.

No longer seeing a reason to stay still, the boy continued to walk, even though he had no particular destination. As he continued to walk the empty streets, his attention was drawn skywards, directed at the Jade Palace. He stopped walking and stood still as he continued to look at the icon in all its pride and glory through his teary eyes, a bit of hope coming to them, but it wasn't enough to stop his watering eyes. He had heard valiant rumors about Master Shifu, The Furious Five and The Dragon Warrior who lived there. How they took down an entire army, won the battle at The Weeping river of Woe and how the Dragon Warrior took down the most notorious villain: Shen, single-handedly. For once, things were slightly looking up for the little boy.

"M-maybe… someone in the Jade Palace can help me… Just… just maybe. If not… then… I can always disappear…" He muttered lowly to himself as he continued to walk towards his destination, as fast as his thin legs could carry him. As it would seem, this young boy was not the only one without his share of problems.

Meanwhile, in the Jade Palace Student barracks…

The Furious five were soundly asleep, clearly worn from another day of training and regular Jade Palace duties, along with a bit of partying on the side for the their own recreational enjoyment, thanks to their and Po triumph for defeating Shen no more than a week ago. It was a pretty fun extravaganza for them all. Viper preformed along with the Valley girls in a ribbon dancing show, Monkey displayed an exhibition of difficult yet awe inspiring acrobats for the viewers, Crane gave free flights to the children, Mantis preformed a bit of standup routines along with the comedians of the Valley of Peace and Tigress just alongside Shifu and enjoyed the others enjoyment while sharing a cup of tea. But one of the Valley residents wasn't having a good time. The only one who wasn't celebrating that entire week with everyone, was Po; Defender of cities and denizens, and Hero of China. Ever since Po learned about his mother's fate, discovered his Inner Peace and defeated Shen, he's been plagued with nightmares. Horrible, recurring nightmares of the same thing over and over again.

The fall of his friends, the gruesome death of his Master, and the destruction of not only all of China, but the entire world itself by some black, misty, shapeless… thing.

But sometimes after bouts with his nightmares, he would have other dreams, though they weren't exactly peaceful, they weren't nightmarish either; they had more of a mystery behind. Especially the one where he's in a black spacious area with nothing but him and six balls of different colored light. One red, one gold, one black, one blue, one green, one brown. And sometimes, one where a young cub was standing before him with his back turned, clearly black and white and nothing more, for that's all he had to go on before waking up at the morning gong.

In his bed, he was tossing and turning and making light grunts, while gripping at the sheets and knitting his brows while saying out gently "Who are you?"

*Po's dreamscape*

Po was standing… or floating in that black space once more, while looking around, trying to figure out where he was.

"Again…" he muttered to himself "here I am again… just where exactly?"

As he continued to look around, a familiar white shape caught his attention, but once again, the glowing figure, from his previous dreams, had his back to Po once more. The Panda tried to hover to where the glowing figure was, but as soon as he did, it began to move away from him, faster than last time, but he wasn't about to give up, he was going to chase the figure down and just figure out where the hell he was, and who that person was, he's been dreaming about.

As Po continued to chase down the moving target, it suddenly stopped, but his back was still towards him. Even though Po was hovering, he was still out of breath; he hadn't been this exhausted since his 10 hour straight training regimen with Tigress.

"F-finally! I finally caught up with you…" Po panted as he looked at the person before him, who still had his back turned. "S-so, you g-gonna tell me who you are?" Po asked.

The figure didn't reply, only place both paws on his hips, and twitched his tail.

"W-well, arent'cha?" Po asked once more.

But the person before the Panda still said nothing.

"Aw c'mon buddy, why the silent treatment?" Po asked as he looked up at the figure.

But again, nothing, just a solid silence.

"Dude, you alright?" Po asked

Silence.

"Hello, anyone there?" Po badgered.

Still, the awkward silence remained.

"Hey, white glowy dude?" Po asked once more

Silence, still remained

"Well, say something…!" Po gritted out while folding his arms.

Still, nothing came from the figure, not even an exasperated breath for air.

At this point, Po was starting to get irritated at the lack of communication skills and decided if he wasn't going to talk himself or itself, he would force words come out, even though this went completely against his nature and personality.

"Alright buddy, I don't know who you are or where the hell I am, but you better start giving me some answers!" Po growled as he reached for the figures' shoulder, but as soon as he was within range, say about two inches of grabbing him, a mildly powerful jolt shot from the figure's shoulder and shocked Po's paw, forcing him to pull back while holding on to it making him winch back from the pain.

"Ouch! That hurt damn it! What in the world was that all abou-" Po started

"_**Soon…**_" said the voice from the figure before Po, making the Panda, stop what he was saying to listen.

"Soon? Soon what?" Po asked, still wanting to know what vague concept this person had to say.

"_**Soon… The End will come…**_" the figure stated cryptically, not even bothering to turn around. That last part unnerved Po quite a bit, but he had to get more detail on what he was talking about.

"The End? The end of what?" Po asked, feeling a little shaken, but not showing it.

"_**The End of everything… and everyone.**_" Said the figure, making Po eyes go wide. "_**Wishing won't make it go away, nor will denying it either.**_" The white figure added. At the point, Po began to freak out a bit, while eyeing the person in front of him.

"Y-you lying. You've gotta be lying. While would you saying something like that? The End of everything and everyone… That's Bullshit, Pure Bullshit!" Po swore, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth harder while taking a step forward. The figure just ignored his outburst and continued his forewarning, much to Po's dismay.

"_**No one can escape this fate, for it will deliver us all to the exact same destination if nothing is done to stop it. You can't plug your ears or cover your eyes from this, Dragon Warrior, for this is part of your destiny now.**_" Said the figure.

"What, my destiny? Aw c'mon I just defeated Shen, not too long ago, why am I suddenly pinned with this now?" Po asked back groaning inwardly.

"_**The Gods hold you in high regards Dragon Warrior, for only you and your companions can accomplish this feat.**_" He said.

"Only I can and my friends? Why me? Why can't the Gods themselves do it?" The Panda asked in a slightly irritated groan.

"_**Dragon Warrior, surely you know of the Universal Rule. The Gods themselves are **__**Forbidden**__** for engaging in the mortal realm or with mortals themselves.**_" The figure stated.

"They can't?" he asked.

"_**That is correct Dragon Warrior.**_" Stated the figure.

"Well… how come?" Po asked.

"_**If the Gods come down from the Heavenly Realm and try to stop it themselves, There would be negative repercussions on the land, the elements, even the people themselves.**_" The figured added on, causing Po to make a face of annoyance.

"Well that sucks." Po pouted.

"_**This is why you are an exception, for what they bestowed upon you with ever since you were born in this world.**_" The figured added.

"If that's the case, what was I given?" he asked back.

"_**You'll find out soon enough, you and the Five for that matter. In fact you should already know. But moving on, in the coming months, you and The Five will visit the Omniscient Six and they shall grant you and your friends what will be needed.**_" The white figure said.

"I see. So… what do we do?" Po asked, glad to see that there was hope for them after all.

"_**In time Dragon Warrior, you will be given signs. And with that, I can elaborate no more.**_" Said the white figure.

"But wait, when will the signs show themselves to me?" Po asked again.

"_**The signs will begin to show in a mannerly order when you wak-**_"Figure started, but was interrupted.

"Po!" came a familiar voice, but from nowhere around him. Only Po knew that heavenly tone of voice from anywhere.

"Tigress?" Po called back, looking about for the feline for his dream.

"_**And so it begins…**_" said the figure before disappearing.

Soon as that last sentence was uttered, the white figure's body dispersed into a million clear glowing spheres before scattering off into the deepest recesses of his dreamscape, lighting it up as well and making the whole area change from black to white in an instant. No having the time to watch it happen, Po felt his subconscious begin to fade and slip back to his active conscious an ending his dream and return back to world of awareness.

*End of Po's dreamscape*

Upon the end of the dream, Po gently opened his eyes to the darkened room he was in and wasn't panting or sweating like the past nights. This time, it was a calm awakening. As he continued to look ahead of him, Tigress' voice called out to him in a much clearer, worried voice. Turning his head to the source of where her voice was coming from, Po turned his head to the left and was greeted by a pair of red and yellow gentle eyes. He already knew who those eyes belonged to and only smile when his face made contact with the stripped feline worried face.

"Good morning to you too Tigress." Po greeted while placing his arms beside him and pushing himself up off the mat into the sitting position, where he rested both his arms on his clothed thighs and turning half of his body around to face her. Tigress let out a groan and casted him a mildly irritated look and sitting back on her knees.

"Good morning my left foot. You were tossing and turning in your sleep again. You had another nightmare?" she asked while moving a little closer to him.

"Nah, not this time. Just the same dream, where this white figure is just giving me the silent treatment again." Po admitted while leaving out the part about the forthcoming doom to all of China.

"I see. Well, at least you weren't dreaming of something horrible, like your stomach having a face on it and demanding you to go on a diet." Tigress joked.

Po shuddered at thought of him going on a strict diet. "Geez Tigress, don't scare me like that. That's something I DIFENTLY don't want to dream about…" Po replied while shaking a little. Tigress couldn't help but chuckle at his expression, even in the lighting of her room currently. She placed her warm paw on Po's shoulder and lightly patted him in reassurance.

"Don't worry Po. I'm sure that even I would be freaked out if that happened." She said while smiling at him.

"thanks Tigress." Po replied while smiling at her.

"you're welcome. Now, we have a couple of hours left before daybreak. We can… you know." Tigress hinted, as Po rolled his eyes in that friendly manner.

"Tigress, we already did that, hours ago after the sun had set I might add and Four times already if I recall, even though you wanted go for a fifth shot." Po replied while looking forward with a smug smile. Tigress blushed deeply and slapped him on the back of his head, making him pitch over, but his large stomach prevented him from falling over, instead, he just bobbed at little, and placed one paw over the back of his head and rub the spot where she had hit him, even though it was hard.

"Po, need I remind you that neither Shifu or the others know nothing of our nightly communion? I'd advise you to refrain for saying it out loud." Tigress said, blushing a little at the sudden memory of the past event.

"Sorry Tigress. But you were just so good!" Po said quietly, making her blush even deeper.

"What did I just say?" she asked, while showing off her sharp teeth to him, and looking upset, for she was being cautious, cause one of the Five was a light sleeper.

"Okay, okay. I'll keep it under the table… too bad you don't wear a skirt for it though." Po quipped, making her eyes go wide at the comment.

"You're lucky that I like you Panda, otherwise you'd be used as my personal training equipment right now." Tigress grinned. "But that wasn't what I was going to say. What I was trying to say, is, do you want to go for a walk in the garden? It's a cool morning, considering it'll be hot when the sun rises." Tigress got out without any lewd hints this time to interrupt her.

"that sound like a good idea. A nice walk, in the garden, in the early hours, with the girl of my dreams, is just what I need to relax before training." Po agreed as he got and reached for his pants that lay a bit away from him, combined with Tigress' trademark vest and black training pants. The feline looked away from him and had to force herself not to look, for if she did, her friends, and CERTAINLY her Master would wonder what's with all the noise. Especially at this hour. After Po put his pants back on, her handed Tigress her clothing before turning to face the wall. He didn't the 'uncomfortable feeling' right now. Later maybe, but not now. Once she was done, they both headed to her bedroom door. Being the gentleman that he is, Po opened the door and allowed Tigress to leave first and them himself. Once on the other side, he looked as his tarnished room door. There was a gapping hold in the center and the inside, there was splinted wood on the floor, a torn mat and claw marks in the paper walls. The reason why it was the way it was, was that a few nights ago: Po had one of his nightmare bouts. Tigress, being the strongest had tried to subdue him and wake up the bear, but in the frenzy of his unconscious, she was thrown from his room, through the door and back out into the hall and he continued to rampage, until he snapped back to reality. After the heated lecture from Shifu. He had to be relocated until his room was fixed up, possibly with stronger materials this time, and of course, feeling bad, Po contributed to the rebuild. As for where he would stay, he was given a number of choices.

Choice one: Crane. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but no. For he took up too much of Crane's room, it was small room after all.

Choice two: Monkey. Another good idea, but once again, it too was shot down. Mainly, he wasn't a big fan of having his tail stepped on when awake. Imagine if he sleeping. Plus, the whole sausage fest thing didn't sit well with him.

Choice three: Viper. A somewhat awkward, but good idea. She could use the company during their down time to show off her ribbon dance form and have an audience to perform with. But like all the others, it was stoned. Because frankly, Male counterpart + Female counterpart + Sharing a room for the night = [{( CENSORED )}] which Shifu believed, so no.

Choice four: Mantis. It was a flat out 'Hell No', because if he and Po shared a room, he'd die within the hour of sleeping, guaranteed.

Choice five: Shifu. Another instant 'No'. mainly it would be too weird and too disturbing. Plus he needed the rest after dealing with Po's daily shenanigans.

So, Tigress was automatically the best choice for Po to room with until his was restored. At first, she was complaining and arguing with the decision and how she had no say in it, now, a week later, she was secretly thanking them for deciding it, and was personally 'thanking' Po for destroying his room so he could bunk with her. After leaving her room, they both tipped toed out through the hallway. For Tigress, she was lighter and the floor boards didn't creak. But for Po, it was another story. The floor boards would creak and groan as footfalls fell on them, even though he was trying his hardest not to make a sound.

Fat chance of that happening.

As Po continued to try, he felt the wood beneath his foot begin to crack, being one step ahead, and fully alert, he quickly moved from that spot with a light jump. 'Ha! Not this time creaky floorboard!' he uttered quietly, but it was short lived. As soon as he came down, his other foot landed on the floor, only this time, there was no warning. With a loud 'Crunch!' sound, his left foot went through the floorboard, causing him to sink, all the way down to his large left buttock, leaving his right one sticking out. "Dammit!" he complained out, before cupping his mouth with his paws and listened to hear if any of the others had woken up… They didn't. Po let out a breath of relief and tried to pull himself out. As he struggled, Tigress only looked at him, and couldn't help but chuckle at his expense, clearly enjoying this.

'Looks like the 'Floor of Light Treading' as you call it, has got you once again, hasn't it Dragon Warrior.' Tigress whispered, grinning smugly.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah Tigress' Po quietly said as he managed to pull himself out and walk over to her while dusting off his pants. 'Laugh it up, for one day, I will beat this floor with my Fantastic Feet of Heavy Lightness.' He declared while shaking his clenched fist at the floor. The black and orange feline saw this, and laughed a little harder .

'I'm sure you will Dragon Warrior, I'm sure you will.' Tigress replied while turning around and proceeding toward the exit of the student dormitories. No longer trying, Po just walked normally and proceeded to follow Tigress.

Just as they exited the student barracks and made it to garden, and were about to enjoy their stroll, Po's caught a distant banging sound coming from him, directly from the Jade Palace arena gate, leading down into the Valley. Turning his full body around towards the sound, he closed his eyes, planted his feet firmly on the ground, arms resting by his sides, shoulders relaxed and began to listen intently at the noise, turning down his other four senses and raising the hearing sense dramatically. But as he did this, it felt weird than the other times he did this, because as soon as he did, he began to feel vibration travel through the ground and to his feet! This entire experience was new to him. He didn't know wither to be amazed, of freaked out. Either way, this new thing going on around him was AWESOME! As he continued to hear the distant pounding and feeling the vibration of the banging, he was picking up heartbeats. One was from Tigress, who was near him, the others, his sleeping comrades, for their heartbeats has slowed down as they slept, and last one was small but strong and it was coming from the direction he was facing, so he continued to lock on to the tremors, trying to gather more info.

Tigress noticed how Po was intensely focusing on his position and not moving a single muscle, like he was in a trance, only standing.

"Po, are you alright?" she asked as she tapped him on the shoulder. Po's eyes snapped open and he let out a breath of relief, but not without turning to face her. Just as she was about to say something, Po beat her to it.

"Tigress, someone is at the Arena door, banging on the door, but if I'm right, he or whoever it is, doesn't have much time left. We need to get to him, Now." The Panda said as he took off for the location. She was about to question this, but when he said that someone wouldn't make it, the though vanished from her mind. She immediately followed. The questions could wait till afterwards.

On the other side of the gate, the young boy, who had traveled up all those steps, while on an empty stomach and lacking energy, was still pounding on the door with all his might, trying to get an answer from anyone to help him. But no one answered.

Hope was dwindling for him, drop by drop. Either way, he continued to pound on the door with his paw.

"Please… someone…anyone… help me… please…" he pleaded out while hitting the large wooden door, his breathing was slightly hard, and his hand was starting to hurt, but if her stopped, it would surely mean his death. He was because see this as pointless, but something inside of him was telling him to keep going, what it was, he didn't have a clue, all he knew was that he needed help. After the continued banging, he was starting to slow down, he fell on to the door, and was breathing heavily from the constant hitting. His paw now stung and was bruised, bits of black and blue with present on it, his sword loosely hanging in his belt, and fresh tears were now falling down his face.

"is this it… Am I… going to die here…?" he asked himself while pushing off the door and looking up at it. "I guess I am…" he said, resigning himself. He closed his eyes and waited for his end.

…

…

…

But it never came.

Confused, he opened his eyes to see just in time, that large door was opening before him, the sudden blessing of being allowed to live was too much for him to just stand up. He plopped down on to his knees and continued to look as two figures from the other side appeared before him.

For he was now bearing witness to Tigress; Leader of the Furious Five and Po; the famous Dragon Warrior.

Once Po, opened the door to see who was here at this hour of the morning, only to be in for a huge surprised. Just as Tigress caught up with him, she was stunned and wide-eyed at what she saw.

At the door, there was a young boy, a white tiger cub to be exact. 'what's a child of his age doing here so early?' she asked herself. Just as she was about to say something, she took a closer looked at his appearance, she was horrified with what she saw, and it went without saying on the Dragon Warrior's reaction. The young cub, had bruises, his clothes were ripped and tattered, his fur smudged, dirtied, and unkempt, ears nicked, his blue eyes glossy with lack of will, dried trails of tears running down his cheeks, tail bent, a streak of dried blood splattered diagonally in-between his eyes and his physique, was boney… too boney for his age! This child was sick and in grave need of help right away.

"Po, this child, he's…" she started, clearly saddened by the way this child was.

"Malnourished, I know." Po stated, while looking at the shivering child with calm, and caring eyes.

As the child was watching them, he felt this particular warmth coming from the Panda in front of him. Like he could be trusted, even though they just met. "Please…" he said to the two. "Please help me…" the child begged, tears, now beginning to fall once more. The amount of urgency that was behind his weak voice tugged at Tigress heart, more so than usual, like she was being compelled to let go a tear.

"You poor child, of course we'll help. Come on in, we'll help you. Promise." Po said while placing a warm paw on the child shoulder and gently ushering him in.

"T-thank you…" the child said while looking at the Panda.

"It's no trouble, I assure you. You look like your starving. C'mon, I'll get you a nice hot bowl of my famous noodles. Tigress, can you close the door?" Po asked to the feline as he escorted the young feline cub in.

"Of course Po." Tigress answered while closing the door behind her. Once done, Tigress jogged over to the two boys and set her pace to match there's. The boy flinched slightly as Tigress suddenly came up on them but relaxed just as fast. "T-thank you, for taking me in…" the child said while looking towards Tigress then to Po.

"It's no trouble at all. What I want to know is, do you have a name?" Tigress asked while looking at the boy.

"Yes. My name is Xiwang…

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**Chapter 1: The Dream and Mysterious Cub – Chapter End.**

A/N: All right readers. I hoped you enjoyed my new story. It took me a whole day to type it up. Stay tuned for Scared Scroll: Diqiu, Chapter 2: Introductions and Impressions.

Okay Readers, **R&R** :)

P.S: If given enough feedback, I'll throw in a picture of who Hope looks like.


	2. Chapter 2 Introductions and Impressions

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**:Sacred Scroll – Diqiu:**

**Chapter 2: Introductions and Impressions**

**Quote(s): "Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open" – ****Elmer G. Letterman**

"**The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character" –** **Isabelle Eberhardt**

A/N: And here we are once again, with my chapter, and your needy eyes to follow the story, you grateful minion you XD. Anyways, now that we are here, like I promised, I'll draw a picture of who Xiwang looks like. But later, expect it before next chapter is up. Anywho, we go a little deeper into Xiwang's background and his situation. Anywho, without further ado, let's proceed to the story.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the big, fluffy panda, just the little tiger cub.

©Kung Fu Panda belongs to DreamWorks

Upon their arrival back to the Jade Palace, after Po helped the poor child up the stairs the through the large wooden doors leading into the building, the trio was now standing in the Hall of Heroes, where most of the greatest icons of Kung Fu, rested. From Master Flying Rhino's war hammer, now a commemoration of the fallen hero, to Master Leopardess's three pronged claws of devastation, to the famed: Sword of Heroes, where it sat on its pedestal, shining from the moonlight falling on it's cold, sharp, metallic blade and jade green sheen with a golden dragon engraved on it, making it look deadly fearsome and finally to Master Oogway's staff's resting place, where it currently was right now with a hanging portrait of the deceased old Master; standing peacefully with a smile on his face, like he was watching over the area, and making the entire place feel welcoming.

As they walked pasted the well sculptured pillars, holding the large roof above them, Xiwang couldn't help but be drawn to the Sword of Heroes, for the rumors he's heard about it. While looking at it from a distance while between Po and Tigress, he broke away from them and walked towards it, like he was drawn to it, something inside of him just made him feel warm and comforting, like he had known about it for a long time. Upon walking towards it, his reflection of his boney, dehydrated face came into view as he looked upon the blade. As he continued to look, something deep within him was happing, something he hadn't felt in years, which was strange because he was only alive for as long as he could remember, even though he was still a child. His hand lifted from his side and reached out to touch the sword before him. His heartbeats steady and strong from before when he was standing at Death's door, his paws sweaty and quivering with each inch he took, he took a gulp as it was now within his fingertips reach. Just as he was about to the touch the cool metal-

"Ah yes. The Sword of Heroes." Said Po, making the tiger cub jump slightly as he turned to that the Dragon Warrior was right next to him.

"Y-you know about the Sword of Heroes?" Xiwang asked as he looked towards the Panda, fear now gone and wonder filling up his eyes.

"You bet your stripped tail I do." Po said while offering the cub a carefree smile, one that made the boy feel safe, protected, and comforted. "They say that The Sword of Heroes is so sharp, that you can cut yourself by just looking at it." Po added.

"Have you or any of the other Masters learned to harness its power?" Xiwang asked, not really sure where that question came from, like he had always known that.

"Harness it? No… not that I know of," Po answered, a tad confused. "As far as I know, it's really sharp. Why, is there a way to harness power from it?" Po asked, somewhat eager to know the secret behind the Sword of Heroes.

"S-sorry for the random question, I don't know where it came from really." Xiwang said while lightly chuckling.

"Hey, it's okay. It's as Master Oogway would say," Po did a cough and stood up straight, trying his best to look proper. He closed his eyes and held up one paw with a digit standing erect while the others were down and continued. "It matters not what the question is, for there is no wrong answer." He concluded while lowering his finger, and opening his eyes and casting a smile at the boy, who let go a small laugh at the performance from the Dragon Warrior. Tigress, who was in the background couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the display. As they continued to laugh, Xiwang's stomach let go a huge rumbling growl of hunger, causing them to stop laughing and Xiwang to blush lightly.

"S-sorry." He said while looking down.

"It's alright Xiwang. You should hear Po when his stomach rumbles for food." Tigress chipped in, making Po shrug sheepishly.

"T-Tigress, don't tell him that." Po said while making a face of annoyance, causing the female to grin that predatory smile. "Anyways, Xiwang, are ready to have an early breakfast?"

The word 'breakfast' made Xiwang's mouth water like made, but he held it in, even though a bit of drool escaped from the side.

"Y-yes sir, I would like something to eat please." He replied.

"Alrighty, one special breakfast, coming up, Tigress, can you wake the others please? It's about a couple of hours before the morning gong, may as well get them up now." Po said. "Sides, we have to introduce the new guy." He added.

"I- I get to meet the rest of the Furious Five?" the boy asked.

"That's right Xi. You get to meet them and be in awe, like I was." Po said, giving the cub the nickname: Xi.

"Oh wow" he said under his breath, trying to imagine the others, in person.

"Alright Po, I can't guarantee they'll be too thrilled, but I'll get them." Tigress said before taking off to the student barracks. As they watched her leave, Po turned his attention to the tiger cub.

"Alright, now to get breakfast started." Po said while leading the way for the cub to follow, hearing the cub's tummy rumble for his food.

Meanwhile

After a bit of walking, Tigress had made it back to the student's quarters, and she could hear the gentle snores of her comrades, clearly in the land of dreams. As much as she hated to awaken them, it would be time to get soon anyways, so may as well do it now. Besides, she didn't want him to waste his food.

'Now, who do I wake up first?' Tigress asked herself. After a bit of pondering, she decided to wake up Monkey first. Crane would most likely be a grouch if woken up this early. Mantis would probably throw a fit, and Viper. She made it CLEAR not to be woken up this early. For starters, she insisted that she got 8 hours of beauty sleep. No more, no less. Anyone one who dared try it would die a slow, agonizing death or so she claimed. Long story short, she didn't want to be woken up early, she was one of those girly girls who put looks first and everything else second.

Not wanting to waste a second more, after walking over the squeaky floor, she went over to Monkey's room door and quietly slid it open. Upon stepping inside, she saw that Monkey was sleep peacefully, his tail twitching rapidly as he rolled on his back and letting an arm fall over his steady breathing body.

"B-b…b. an.. na… bananas… I want my bananas… you won't get away from me…" Monkey slurred out in dream talk while reaching outwards for it subconsciously, his hands trying to grab at the banana in his dreams before it fell back to him. Making Tigress let go a *snrk* sound.

"Seriously, he dreams about banana? He really is like his ancestors." Tigress mused before walking over to his bed side and crouching down, tapping at his side. "Monkey… Hey Monkey… wake up…" Tigress urged as she called out to him, trying to pull him out of his subconscious slumber.

"Hmmm… let me sleep mom… its Saturday…" he slurred out.

"Come on Monkey wake up..." Tigress continued to urge, tapping him harder. "And I'm not your mother." She added.

"What… no… no, it can't be… no… no!" Monkey said, tossing and turning. "Po found my almond cookies… No!" he said aloud struggling at something.

"Monkey, wake up…!" Tigress said, a bit louder than last time

"No, Stay away… stay away from cookies Po!" Monkey demanded, while in reality, he clenched his hand into a fist ready to strike the Panda, stealing his prized cookies.

"Monkey snap out of it, Po is-" Tigress started before the clenched fist beside him struck up at the imaginary Po. Tigress' feline reaction kicked into high gear and caught his fist before it could make contact with her face. She held onto it, not even feeling the slightest jolt of the impact. After calming down, Monkey finally began to awake from his slumber and groggily looked at the person above him. Once the focus came back to his eyes, he was able to know whose red eyes were looking down at him and who was holding his paw clenched paw.

"H-hey Tigress… what's up, why are you up so early?" The simian asked, letting go a slight yawn before pulling his hand away to sit up.

"Well for starters, you almost struck me dead in the face. Second, Po asked me to wake you all. He's making breakfast right now." Tigress said while getting up and heading for the door.

"Wait, Po is awake at this hour, and you too? Did you…?" He started to ask before Tigress turned around and casted the primate a serious, steely glare, making him shut up quickly.

"No Monkey. That is NOT the reason. The reason why I woke you up is that Po is making breakfast for everyone." Tigress declared.

"Okay, but Po, being up at this hour? He's never up on time for the gong." Monkey said while getting up from his bed.

"Shocker, I know. Anyways, now that you're up, help me wake up the others, he's expecting us soon.

"Alright" Monkey replied.

For the next few minutes, the duo worked together to wake up everyone else in the barracks. It went from Crane, the easiest, to Viper, the hardest to wake up, even though Viper went into full-on bitch mode on being woken up two hours early, she agreed to get up, only because Po asked Tigress too. She'd give the bear a piece of her mind then.

"Alright, everyone is woken up, good." Tigress said while making sure.

"I speak for everyone, when I say yep." Mantis replied, causing the others to nod.

"Alright, now before we go, there's something I need to tell you all." Tigress announced.

"What, that you and Po realized your feelings for one another and did the hanky-panky last night?" Mantis chipped in, making the others giggle. Tigress gave them all the 'I'm going to ripe your vocal cords if you say that one time!' glare, making them silent instantly.

"What I was going to say, Mantis, is that we have a guest on the Palace grounds. He's in the kitchen with Po right now. But another thing about him, he's a child." Tigress stated.

"Wait, there's a child here in the Palace?" Viper asked.

"What's a child doing here so early, Kung Fu introductory classes don't start for another five hours. Why is he here?" Crane asked.

"Yeah, why?" Mantis added.

"He's here because… he was about to die not too long ago. Po was the first to notice he was here. I don't know how he did it, but he was able sense the boy." Tigress said while turning to face the exit.

"Wait, he was about to die, and Po sensed him?" Asked Crane.

"I don't know how, he just did." Tigress stated casually.

"What's the status of the child now?" Viper asked, clearly worried.

"He was bruised, battered, messy, and malnourished." Tigress responded.

"M-malnourished?" Viper said, eyes going wide, as did the others.

"That's correct."

"But how did the kid make it all the way up here, let alone the first set of steps outside the Palace perimeters." Mantis asked.

"Perhaps by the miracle of the Gods. Everyone let's go, you can meet him and see for yourself." Tigress replied as she lead the way. The others said nothing else and just followed.

Meanwhile

"Oh wow, look at this spread!" Xiwang said while looking at the buffet before him. An assortment of various foods was before him, the rich and succulent aroma of food filled his nostrils and made his mouth water. There was breads, soup bowls, dishes of dumplings, spices, seasonings and a bowl of tofu that was right in front of him! The mere sight of the spread before Xiwang before him to bite into boney knuckles, but not enough to make him bleed. It was tempting to just dive in and help himself to the meals before him, but he remembered his manners and decided to wait for the others, even though his stomach was twisting itself in knots and commanding him to be greedy, but his common sense won over. "I don't think I can wait much longer." He added.

"Don't worry Xiwang. They'll be here soon. But tell me, what's a child like you doing all the way out here? Isn't your family worried?" Po asked. The moment he asked that question, his hunger suddenly stopped bothering the boy and he casted his head down slowly, making sure that tears didn't come to surface, even though it was hard.

"I… I don't have a family… not anymore…" Xiwang said, his tone was now crestfallen. Po's eyes went wide when he heard those words so clearly.

"You don't have a family? That's terrible, what happened?" Po asked as he took a seat next to the boy, placing a paw on his shoulder. Just as the boy was about to speak, a familiar voice came from behind them. Po didn't flinch, but Xiwang jumped a little.

"Alright, where's the breakfast we were promised?" Mantis said.

"Mantis, be polite we have a guest in our midst." Viper chided as she slithered in behind the insect. "Please forgive his rashness; he's like this when woken up early."

"No I'm not. It's when I don't get food." He corrected.

"Oh Mantis," Crane groaned while walking in.

"He is who, who he is Crane, no denying that." Monkey said while following behind.

"Well Po, everyone is here, like you asked." Tigress said as she walked in also. As the Furious Five walked in, Xiwang could only just gawk as he looked upon China's most famed warriors. He quickly stood up and bowed right away.

"The Furious Five, I am honored to be in your presences, I know I'm not worthy of your time, but please forgive me intrusion upon you home this early in the morning, I hope that I didn't interrupt your pleasant dreams that you were having. Pardon my insolence…" the young tiger cub said as he continued to bow humbly in front of them. They all, except Po and Tigress, just looked at the cub with stunned eyes and just chuckled at him, making the boy blush lightly.

"Kid, take it easy. There's no need for such formality here, just talk to us as normally as you can." Mantis spoke up, hoping onto the table.

"He's right brother. You're protected and among friends here. Just relax." Viper said sweetly as she took to her seat.

"Yeah, take a load off, and just chill." Crane pitched.

"It's all good. Glad to have you here." Monkey said with a smile, joining the others at the table.

"Thank you everyone. I'm glad to be here." Xiwang said while sitting down with them.

"It's no problem." Viper replied.

"Great, now that everyone is here, let's eat." Po said while reaching for a dumpling. "Xiwang help yourself to whatever you want." Po said, casting him a carefree smile, reassuring the cub.

"Thank you Dragon Warrior." The boy said as he reached for a dumpling.

A bit later, everyone was now talking and laughing with each other, even though Xiwang didn't say much. He enjoyed listening to the others stories, riddles, past experience, and jokes, clean jokes for the child's sake. For Xiwang, this was the first time he clearly had a good laugh among others in very long time, it was, nostalgic, in a way. Something about it made him happy, but at the same time, sad as well, even though he didn't show it.

"You know Shifu's going to have our hides for being up this early without him right?" Mantis asked

"Ah, let him be surprised for once. I mean he's always up before us, it might be nice to be the ones awake first for a change." Monkey stated after he swallowed a steam fried dumpling.

"Yeah, it's the least we can do after all he's done for us. I mean, given the fact that he's what…63, 64, 65… 64, I guarantee, you think he likes getting up early?" Crane asked.

"Well, for as long we had known him, he's been doing that every day. I mean, other than not having anything else to wake up for." Viper said

"Yeah, not having wife could make the guy lonely ya know, if he did, it's a pretty safe bet that he'd be staying in for an hour more, probably to chop down the ol' morning wood." Mantis quipped, making everyone, Xiwang excluded, groan out.

"Mantis, you Fānchāng." Viper said.

"Seriously. But that aside, I've seen Master Shifu make frequent trips down to the Valley during most days and come back late in the day sometimes the evenings." Crane added.

"You think he's with a woman?" Monkey asked

"A woman, shouldn't he be focusing on his inner peace?" Tigress asked after taking a bite of her tofu.

"It's a pretty safe bet that he's already his inner peace. Her loins." Mantis joked.

"Mantis…!" they all, except Xiwang, groaned out, before laughing together.

"But seriously, it's good that he found an outlet for all that energy. I mean seriously. Okay for all the guys, excluding the kid." Mantis said, making Xiwang's ears splay back. "Don't worry. You'll understand when you hit puberty. Now, as I was saying. For just us guys, you girls feel free to ignore this, but how long can one guy go with 'releasing'?" He asked.

"Mantis, you're seriously asking that? In front of the child no less?" Tigress asked.

"What is wrong with you?" Viper asked in that 'I can't believe you actually said that' tone.

"Ah keep you shirt on Tigress. Viper, your flowers, he's going to be asking this soon as his hormones start to rage." Mantis said.

"Is that bad?" Xiwang asked.

"Xi, it's not so much bad, it's more about control really. For us guys, it's really difficult at times." Po educated.

"That's right," Monkey chipped in. "For us, we mustn't ever let our guard down, only for that special female we care for."

"Yeah, some of the times we have it harder, but women beat us by far sometimes." Crane added.

"Oh yeah, cause if you're walking down the street and you see this Fine female with a nice set of breas… I mean 'meat buns' Oh dear Gods, sometime you'll just lose it!" Mantis exclaimed.

"Mantis!" Both Tigress and Viper chided, making the bug winch in recoil.

"So that's why, you have to be aware." Mantis educated.

"I see. I think I understand." The cub answered.

"Good. Now back to topic I asked," he started. "So guys, how long can you go without releasing?" Mantis asked.

"Uhh… about five days." Po said.

"Two weeks minimal, three weeks top" Monkey said.

"A month." Crane said simply

"Alright Mantis, how long can you go without it?" Po asked.

"You really want to know?" he asked, delaying their answer.

"Yeah, you started it." Monkey quipped.

"Alright, the longest I can go without it is…," He paused, then continued "Three months at a time."

The guys just looked at like he was some kind of freaking weirdo, three months without relinquish, that's was impossible, just impossible, in fact, it wasn't even heard among the males throughout China, let alone the world.

"Damn dude. And I though Tigress was the sole master of self-control and discipline, but man, you're unreal." Po stated as he looked at Mantis with wide eyes, not believing what he just heard from the bug.

"Yep, I'm full of surprises." He said simply.

"I'm amazed that you men could have that kind of conversation in front of a child his age and not feel guilty." Tigress chipped in, a bored look on her face.

"It's okay Master Tigress, really. I rather hear this kind of talk now and prepare for my adolescent years to come, rather than be a teenager right now and be awkward with these kinds of talks." Xiwang said while keeping his paws on his lap in a polite manner.

"See, he's got the right idea. Spoken like a true man." Mantis cheered.

"Amen to that." Monkey, Crane and Po said at the same time, raising their chopsticks in agreement.

"Ugh, men." Viper and Tigress chided.

"Ugh, women." Mantis countered. The tree snake just rolled her eyes and decided to let it go, not wanting to hear him go on about it for hours. She then turned attention to Xiwang who was sitting there innocently, while listening to the others, smiling a care free smile.

"So Xiwang tell us. What's a child like you doing so far from home, won't your family worry about you?" Viper asked sweetly.

"Yeah, and why are you so thin?" Mantis asked.

Those sudden question cause the cheery atmosphere to die down as of now, all eyes were on the Xiwang. Po somewhat knew what the tiger cub is going to say and quickly intercepted him, placing a paw on his shoulder.

"Xiwang, if you don't want to say anything, you don't-"

"It's okay Po, but I'm alright. I'm willing to tell." Xiwang interjected, causing the others to cast the cub a confused look.

"Alright, if you're sure." Po reassured, the cub just smile, but it was a sad simile.

"Okay. Viper, everyone, the reason why I'm out here, so far from home, is… well… because I don't have a home… not anymore…" Xiwang said; causing everyone at the table to look at the boy wide eyed.

"What, you don't have a home, how come?" asked the tree snake, raising herself up in a bent 'S' form, her eyes full of worry. Everyone including the guys who casted the cub disturb looks.

"Because… because they… they were killed…" He admitted, looking down at his lap where his paws were clenching at the tattered pants, like he did something, and was being scolded for it.

"Killed…? How horrible! Xiwang, I'm so sorry to hear that." Said Viper, she was the first to say, clearly feeling for the child loss.

"They weren't just killed, they…" He took a breath, and then continued. "They were mutilated... horribly…" he added, making everyone gasp.

"M-mutilated, they were mutilated…?" Monkey asked, not liking where this was going.

"Yes… My Baba, Mama, Nǎinai, Yeye, Jie jie, Mei mei… all of them, killed…" He said, tears now starting to well up as the memories came to surface.

"How terrible, to lose your entire family in one setting… Xiwang you poor dear…" Viper sympathized.

"That's terrible, I can't believe you had to endure that alone…" Po said while remembering how he lost his own family to the power craving bird; Shen. It was in that moment that he decided to keep the cub here with him.

"Yeah, I know. I'm the only sole survivor of my family… and I hate it…" The cub said bitterly, trembling at the mention of it.

"That would explain the blood splatter on your face, which brings me to another question, how come you are so thin? Considering that you made this far." Mantis asked.

"Thanks to the sudden word about me being the only survivor of the tragedy that befell my family, everyone, no matter what Valley I went to, rejected me. Seeing me as 'monster' that killed his own and lived." He stated. The word 'monster' reverberated in Tigress' mind, for she too, had known the feeling of being hated by others, but she kept it under control and continued to listen.

"What's even worst, I was rejected at the Bao Gu orphanage…" he stated, making everyone go wide eyed, and made Tigress gasp. "Apparently, they don't allow 'monsters that killed their own family' the option of being adopted by any other families. I was stoned away by the other children and the care taker didn't even say anything…" he added, now tear drops falling onto his trembling paws, making sniffling sounds to boot.

The others, Mainly Tigress, took in the cub's sob story and could only feel sorry for the cub as they listen to his melancholic tale.

"From day to day, I was on my own, no food, no water, no friends, and no hope. I did things I wasn't proud of then and still not proud of now. I had struggle to survive. I had to lie my way of situations, deceive and use others, steal food to eat, and fight my way out problems… just to get where I am now… alive, pathetic, and forsaken by the Gods…" He said letting his tears fall freely, letting go sniffles every now and then. Po and The Five just looked at the little boy with sorrowful eyes, taking in of his recent experiences of how he got here and what he had to go through to survive.

"You poor child…" Viper said while looking at him with sad eyes, not really knowing how to comfort him.

"Damn and I thought I had it rough." Mantis added.

"That's just not right… you're only a child, you shouldn't have to go through that kind of trauma this early in life." Monkey said.

"Oh man, that's just bad." Crane added.

"And I thought my life was bad, yours is just… you're too young for that kind of thing." Tigress sympathized.

"I know… I know… I… I just don't know what to do anymore…" Xiwang said tearfully while still looking down, the water works on full blast. "I don't have anywhere to go… no place to call home… I have no family to consult… I…!" He was cut off as Po, placed him into a one arm hug, bringing the boy close to him, resting the boy on his side, he looked down at the cub and offered him a heartwarming smile when he looked to see that Po was giving him comfort causing the tears to stop pouring, and his watery eyes to go wide with shock.

"D-Dragon Warrior…?" he asked.

"Xiwang, you've suffered a tragedy that no child should EVER have to go through alone, but no longer, And Xiwang," Po said gently.

"Y-yes?" he asked back.

"You're wrong about what you just said." Po stated.

"I… I am?" the cub asked, not sure what Po meant.

"Yes, for guess what. You DO have a home; The Jade Palace, and you DO have a family; Me, Master Shifu, The Furious Five, the Jade Palace staff, we'll be your new family. I promise." Po said proudly, smiling his trademark smile, making the cub look wide eyed and blushed lightly, as he looked around the room, even though they all had faces of surprise then back to Po, who was still smiling.

"R-really? I… I can live here?" the cub asked, excitement calmly laced in his voice. Po nodded simply. "A-and you'll be my new family?" he asked once more, and Po simply grinned.

"…T-thank you… thank you… thank you so much," Xiwang thank while resting his head in Po's large belly, tears of joy now freely pouring, staining the fur, but Po didn't mind one bit, he just gently rubbed the young boys back. "Thank you… Baba…" He whispered on that last part. He didn't want Po to hear that, not yet anyways.

"Of course Xi, I've decided to adopt you, but that aside, there's always room in this family, and you're part of it now." Po said, while petting the crying cub. "So, no more crying okay?" Po asked.

"O-okay." Xiwang said while pulling his face from Po and wiping his eyes.

"There we go, greet your family with a smile!" Po encouraged.

"Okay!" Xiwang affirmed, smiling as wide as Po.

"Uh… Po?" Tigress asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked back.

"As much as I want to accept the boy into our home, shouldn't we have consulted Shifu first?" the orange and black feline asked.

"Does it really matter? Xiwang needs a family, and with Oogway as my witness That's what I going to give him." Po stated firmly. "Besides, I'm sure Shifu will understand once we explain it to him. Anyways later on today, I'm going to head over to the Bao Gu orphanage to pick up the adoption papers. Tigress will you come with Xiwang and me and vouch for us? I need to make it convincing." Po said simply.

"Well, I suppose I can see what I can do, of course." Tigress said.

"Great, this is gonna work out nice. Now, what style are we going to have you learn? Obliviously Tiger Style, with Tigress as your teacher, but I want to give you options Xiwang, do you have any?" Po asked.

"Um… I'll learn Tiger Style with Master Tigress, but Can I learn Dragon Style Kung Fu too, along with some Panda Style also?" Xiwang asked. The mention of using Dragon Style made the entire kitchen gasp as they looked at the child, making him feel uncomfortable. "D…did I say something wrong?" he asked.

"Kid, right off the bat you asked to learn about Dragon Style, the style Po is learning about? You've got Stones my furry little friend." Mantis complimented.

"Thank you." He simply said. "Po, is Dragon Style hard?" Xiwang asked

"Well… it's not so much hard as there is a lot of studying, and A LOT of steps to learn. I'm in the process of learning the more advance stages of my style, so it's really difficult for me, but you on the positive side; it's really powerful for both of us." Po stated.

"I see, in that case, I still want to learn it." Affirmed Xiwang, The fiery determination was in his eyes.

"Easy tiger. You have to learn the basics of the basics first before we can get to the nitty-gritty of the style you want to learn." Po stated while rubbing his head, in that fatherly manner. "Plus, you'll be making frequent trips to the Shaolin temples for further training." Po added.

"A small price to pay for Excellence of Self." Xiwang retorted with cocky smile.

"Whoa, confident little guy arent'cha" Po responded, letting go a laugh.

"I have to be, if I want to follow in your footsteps." The cub replied.

"Just like Po." Tigress said while resting her face on her paw that was connected to her elbow that was resting on the table, making everyone present laugh in unison.

"You see Xiwang," Viper started, "Po is currently learning mo kee… mi kuu… mu… Po, what is that you're learning right now?" Viper asked.

"It's *Mor Kiu that I'm learning Xiwang." Po corrected.

"What's Mor Kiu?" Xiwang asked, looking at Po.

"Mor Kiu, Xiwang is can be easily known as 'Magical Arms', very useful when defending against numerous odds of enemy. More accurately, it's a series of high speed hands and arm techniques." Po informed.

"Really, how so?" the cub asked.

"I'll show you. Monkey, toss that old cup at me, as hard as you can." Po instructed as he raised his paw up and pulled it back while focusing on his paw in front of his face while taking five solid deep breaths, eyes frighteningly focused, calming his nerves and centering his Chi energy, building it up into single point, his black paw.

"Alright." Monkey simply said while take hold of the cup and getting up from his seat. He placed his back against the wall, and got into position, letting a few seconds go by before launching the cup as hard as he could. As fast as it happened and approached Po, with the same amount of speed, even faster, he threw his paw outward releasing a blast of air from his paw making a *fhwoo* sound. The air blast let Po's paw and in the blink of an eye, it connected with the aerial cup with a *phowp* sound causing it to bounce back in the air. Just as soon as it did that, it fell back down to the table thanks to gravity, Po caught with the other paw and placed back on the table. After the little demonstration, the others just clapped at the performance while Xiwang just looked at the cup, then Po, then the cup again. He was completely stunned at what he just saw, to the point that he just HAD to ask what happened.

"Po… that was… and you did… and with only air… just your paw… What did you do?" the cub asked, wonder now stained his face. Making Po chuckle as his expression.

"What I did was an Air Block." He said.

"Air block?" Xiwang asked, not sure how to process that.

"That's right. It's all about blocking attacks and turning it against the assailant. It consists of punches, grabs, palm strikes, arm blocks and elbow strikes. The air block, just now, I made that up, but using actual air." Po said.

"You mean you actually used air? How is that possible?" Tigress asked, now intrigued.

I don't know how, it came to me just now really." Po answered. "But yeah, Xiwang you see what years of training will do for you?" the Panda asked.

"I do, and I'm even more eager to learn now." He replied.

"Good. Now, how to hide you and convince Shifu on letting you stay." Po mused.

"Good luck with that, Shifu knows everything. If he were to find, he'd TOTALLY kick your ass." Mantis chuckled

"Oh yeah, that's a fact." Crane added

"And whose 'ass' would I kick if I were to find out what exactly?" asked a familiar voice, making them all go stiff at the familiar tone that came from behind them, for Shifu was awake and standing at the kitchen door.

"Oh shit…" Po swore, doing a face palm.

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**Chapter 2: Introductions and Impression – Chapter End**

And so ends another good chapter of: The Founders of the Wu Xing. Longer than the least one huh. I know, I'm proud of myself. Anywho, leave a review of what you think. Oh and another thing of the reviews, Please be a bit more descriptive when you leave them. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you take time to review after read my chapters and I'm grateful for that, but it's not enough. I need to know if I did anything wrong, mistakes I made, things I can improve, you know, positive criticism. Anyhow, thank you for time, you reviews to keep me going (doesn't mean I'm going to stop), and be ready for Founders of the Wu Xing chapter 3: Enterprises and Training Surprises


	3. ch3 Enterprises and Training surprises

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**:Sacred Scroll – Diqiu:**

**Chapter 3: Enterprises and Training Surprises**

**Quote(s): "Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward" – ****Victor Kiam**

"**Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten" – ****David Ogden Stiers**

Well here we are again, it's always such a pleasure, even though you tried to kill me twice… T_T, naw I just messin with ya mah fellow readers. I here with the next installment of 'Founders of the Wu Xing'. It's been a while hasn't it, welp, I'm studying to take the G.E.D again *shows to the sky* GAWDDAMMIT! Anyways sorry. Well enough screwin around, I'd go on, but I'm sure you iz itchin to read, so go on, get a jump on that. I will await your review at the end :) so enjoy you guyz.

Also, before I forget, I will introduce two new characters. I planned for them to have their own story, but with 'The Baby's Xun and this story's Xiwang, the whole thing with kids joining up with the Furious Five and Po is going to go stale, so I decided to just add them to this current story. I think you guys might find them to entertaining.

Okay, NO MORE DISTRACTIONS! Go on and start reading and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Kung Fu Panda in any way, shape or form, Ya copyright pending demons… OH!

* Last time during the series when we left off…

"**Good. Now, how to hide you and convince Shifu on letting you stay." Po mused.**

"**Good luck with that, Shifu knows everything. If he were to find, he'd TOTALLY kick your ass." Mantis chuckled**

"**Oh yeah, that's a fact." Crane added**

"**And whose 'ass' would I kick if I were to find out what exactly?" asked a familiar voice, making them all go stiff at the familiar tone that came from behind them, for Shifu was awake and standing at the kitchen door.**

"**Oh shit…" Po swore, doing a face palm.**

***Now on to the current chapter. ***

Po turned his body around half way, to see that China's greatest Kung Fu teacher was still standing at the kitchen entrance, wearing a dark blue Changshan with white designs on the front, a sleep mask resting on his forehead, arms behind his back while holding Oogway's staff behind him and an expressionless look on his face, a bleak look of stationed eyebrows, half lidded eye and a slight frown on his muzzle, but there was no look of anger on his face, just a slightly annoyed look instead. They all were looking at Shifu in his morning glory, which didn't look too bad by the way.

There was an awkward silence between both parties until Po was unanimously selected to speak out, which he hated greatly. Taking a deep breath, he then spoke.

"M-Master Shifu, Good morning, I see that you're up and early…" Po said, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice but failed miserably.

"I am up early every morning Panda, I suppose I should thank you for your somewhat improving observation," Shifu said sarcastically.

Po chuckled at the insulting remark, which he didn't get. "Ah yeah… so tell us Master, how long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"Since I overheard that you were going to adopt the cowering cub that sitting next to you without my added consent, if you must know," Shifu answered while pointing to the cub, which was now clinging onto Po's fur for protection.

"That long huh?" Po asked, lightly rubbing the back of his head, and blushing lightly. 'How the hell did Shifu sneak up on us, I should have been able to sense him, I could sense the others but I couldn't sense Master? Huh, weird.' Po said, not giving it much thought.

"Now, onto my next question, why in the name of the Gods are you up so early, today is your day off, though I suppose that I usually tell you all during the morning greeting… Alright, that does not count as a question. The actual question is," He turned his attention to the cub that was still clinging onto Po for protection. "Who is this young cub and what is he doing here so early when Kung Fu introductory classes do not begin for another five hours?" Shifu asked.

Xiwang moved closer to Po, but the Panda just tapped him in the head gently and gave him a smile. "It's okay, Go on and introduce yourself, Our Master doesn't bite," Po encouraged

"Yeah, he just likes to throw stuff at our heads instead." Mantis chipped in, making the boy whimper.

"Mantis, not helping!" Po said to the insect, which just snickered to himself, until Viper smacked him across the back of the head with the tip of her tail, causing him to shut up immediately.

"It's okay brother, go ahead, Master Shifu is a great man, you have nothing to worry about." Viper encouraged. Mantis was about to say something else, but a hiss of her tongue stopped him.

"O-okay… I'll try…" the cub said hesitantly while letting go of Po and getting up from the spare seat. He walked over to the aged Master, who quietly and patiently waiting for the explanation, the bored look was still there, but it slowly changed to surprise as he got closer, most likely noticing the condition of his being. Now standing in front of Shifu, Xiwang did the tradition fist-to-palm hand greeting and bowed humbly before answering the Master.

"Greeting Grandmaster Shifu, my name is Xiwang, I am grateful that you would allow me to approach you so early in the morning." Xiwang said, still bowing until he was given permission to stand up. Likewise, Shifu bowed as well.

"I see, I bid you a good morning young Xiwang, you may rise up now," Shifu said while standing back up. Upon hearing that, the cub stood back up while looking down at the Master. "Tell me child," Shifu said while looking up at the cub. "What has happened to you, you look terrible, and malnourished… how did you get this way?" Shifu asked. Xiwang looked back to Po, who just nodded while smiling caringly. Taking a deep breath, Xiwang began his tale.

*One sad story later*

Shifu couldn't believe what his large ears had heard. The fact that of what this child had gone through so early in life was just… horrible, too horrible in fact. He couldn't help but feel bad for the cub.

"By the Gods, having to endure so much while still so young, I cannot even fathom what must have been processing in your head. Forgive me for sounding so rash." Shifu said while looking back at the cub.

"No, no Grandmaster… it's okay, I just wish I was more presentable." Xiwang replied.

"That is not necessary. What you have been through and what you had to endure just to make it here, it is alright. But we are going to have you wear some new clothes later on in the day. So until then, make yourself at home." Shifu said while offering Xiwang a smile.

"I-I can stay? Thank you Grandmaster Shifu!" the boy said while bowing.

"Please, there is no need for you to address my title that way, just talk to me as normally as possible." Shifu said with a chuckle.

"Okay Grandmast- I mean, Master Shifu." Xiwang corrected.

"Very good. Well, now that everyone is up earlier than usual, I am going to meditate for the rest of the morning. Everyone, enjoy your day off. And Xiwang, welcome to the Jade Palace," Shifu said. "Po, you have my permission to adopt the boy, but remember, he is your responsibility," Shifu added.

"Yes Master." Po replied.

"Also," Shifu added. "Even though it is your day off, you still have your mind training regimen to do." Shifu said. Po groaned out when he was told about his exercises, it's not that he didn't like the new method of further developing himself, it was just the amount of effort that went into it that made him frown.

"Yes, Master…" Po groaned out.

"Good. Now students, as you were." Shifu said while departing the room and heading back to his. Once out of earshot, they continued their conversation while Xiwang took his seat next to Po.

"Wow, I thought Shifu was going to kick Po's ass down the steps for doing something like this. I wonder what changed his mind." Mantis asked himself.

"Aside from Xiwang's predicament, not much is known in that area." Monkey said.

Ah well, Xiwang gets to stay, that's all that matters. Besides, it's going to be fun having a kid around the Palace and- Ah shoot!" Po groaned out while resting his face in both his paws.

"What? Po what's the matter?" Tigress asked.

"It's Saturday, today right?" Po asked out.

"Yes it is, why, is there something you have to do?" Crane asked.

"Yeah it is and I remembered what I have to do," Po replied, still not looking up.

"Well, what is it?" Viper asked.

"Today's the day I promised that I'd adopt both Līmīng AND Qīānxī, how could I forget something so important after a week of meeting them!" Po groaned out, mentally slapping himself for being so foolish.

"You promised to adopt two more kids?" asked Monkey.

"You've been seeing them for a week?" asked Viper.

"Who exactly are these Līmīng and Qīānxī characters that you've been seeing?" Tigress asked, still not fully convinced.

"And how come we've never heard about them?" asked Mantis.

"Okay, okay. One at a time," Po said while taking his face out of his paws so he could talk. "For starters, during this past week during my breaks, I've been visiting the Bao Gu orphanage, and y'know, amazin' the kids with my Kung Fu Awesomeness and such," Po stated.

"Ugh. How typical," Tigress said under her breath while rolling her eyes.

"Anyways, Tigress, So there I was, making all the kids happy and cheerful while showing off my cools moves and whatnot, when suddenly I saw the two of them," Po said.

"And they are…?" Mantis asked this time.

"I was getting to that!" Po replied, starting to get irritated by the constant interruptions. "Now, where was I? Oh yes. In the courtyard, so there I was, being surround by all the kids there, every little bunny and geese eager to meet their favorite warrior. Now, while I was surrounded by them, I noticed that there were two girls sitting on the bench, both of them huddled against the other, one had a sweet but sad smile on her muzzle, while the other was holding onto her in a protective manner with a serious look on her face, like Tigress, when she's trying to get her point across," Po stated while pointing to the stripped feline sitting next to Xiwang, only with a look of annoyance this time.

"Anyways, Po, you were on the part of the two girls in the distance?" Crane said, helping the Panda remember his spot where he left off.

"Oh yeah, okay, so the two girls were there, the one with the serious look on her face wasn't looking at me, but the swarm of children around me. Possibly from why she was looking at them like that, I say that either she or the girl she was holding, or both, were the victims of being bullied by the other children at the orphanage," Said the Panda, looking a little miffed.

"Must've been, because of their appearance." Monkey summed up.

"That's what I think too." Po responded.

"So Po is there any more?" Xiwang asked.

"You bet your strips there is, I'm getting to the good part," Po said while rubbing the cubs head. "Okay, back to the story, if you can call it that. Okay, so yeah, it's possible that they're being bullied. Anyways, I made my way past the fluffy crowd and approached the two girls, but when I came closer to them, something about them, just made them stand out from the rest, but that's beside the point. When I came up to them, the two girls looked exactly the same, they were twins," Po said.

"They're twins are they, what species are they?" asked Viper.

"Both the girls were twins, Panda twin to be exact," Po added.

"Twins Pandas? Oh I can imagine the look on Shifu's face when they show up here," Mantis stated while chuckling a little. "Perhaps he'll do his famous eye twitch that Po finds so hilarious." He added.

"Well it is." Po admitted.

"You think that he'll faint from that?" Mantis asked.

"It'd be worth painting a portrait of." Crane chuckled.

"Ooohhhhh, Perfect blackmail!" Po squealed, letting go a devious grin.

"Um Po, the girls you were talking about?" Tigress said while rolling her eyes at Po's nonsense.

"Ah yeah. Okay, so continuing from where I left off. So yeah, they're panda twins, can you believe it? Anyways, So I introduced myself to them. At first, they both were reluctant, but I managed to get through to them, it wasn't easy, but I did it. Anyways, they said that their names were Līmīng and Qīānxī, which are very nice in my opinion." Po said.

"Līmīng and Qīānxī: Dawn and Eve. Wow, they're the exact opposites, for being exactly the same." Said Viper.

"That's what they said to me the first time I talked to them, but they pointed out a number of differences, but really, they're sweet girls, even though Qīānxī was the more assertive one of them." Po said.

"Well, that's only because she's looking out for her younger sister, so that's to be expected." Viper added.

"What were the differences between the two?" Monkey asked, fairly interested that two cubs could be so different from one another.

"Well, for starters and probably the most obvious, they both wear different colored cheongsams. Līmīng was wearing red and white while Qīānxī was wearing black and blue. Also Līmīng has an excess amount of head fur, so she places it to the right side of head and keeps a ruby colored lotus clip to hold it in place, while her sister wears a blue one on her left ear. So that's that for the outside differences, As for the inside, well, their personality says it all." Po said.

"They sound cute, I can't wait to meet them," Viper said while trying to picture them in her head. "What about their eye colors?" she asked.

"Līmīng has red eyes, and Qīānxī has blue eyes, so that's another factor that separates them. Anything more questions?" Po asked the others.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say 'no'" Crane vouched while the others nodded.

"Alright, I guess that's that then. Well Xiwang, looks like you're going to have two sisters staying with us instead of it being just you here." Po said with a grin on his face, making the cub smile lightly as well.

"And this odd family gets bigger." Mantis joked.

"The more; the merrier, I say." Monkey chipped in.

"Yeah, I agree, it's never a dull moment here. Having children here will add more cheerfulness to the Jade Palace's atmosphere." Viper said while smiling.

"Yeah, I can honestly say, that I can pass my teachings on to the next generation finally." Crane stated.

"Dude, we're still in our twenties, we're nowhere near close to even be thinking about old age." Mantis stated.

"I know, I'm just saying. Still, this family is getting big." Crane replied.

"Which leaves to figure out; who's going to be the married couple while playing mommy and the daddy in the group." Mantis said, suddenly a light bulb went off in his head, making him grin.

"Not it!" said Crane, Monkey, Viper and Mantis quickly, leaving Po and Tigress hanging in Decision Limbo. Only now did they realize what just happened, did they begin to panic.

"M-m-m-m-m- married?" Po stuttered out, blushing like a ripe red radish that had been picked from the ground. Xiwang saw his expression and couldn't help but laugh.

"Wait just a damn minute, why are you leaving us to be parents?" Tigress demanded while blushing deeply at the thought of being in holy matrimony with Po. The thought was more appealing than it was revolting.

"Because," Mantis said while hopping over to where the two were sitting. "You two are perfect for each other. You like him and he likes you, it's so obvious, that even the kids down in the Valley can see it. I don't see why you are making such a big deal about it." Mantis said, making both animals blush even more.

"Y-you can't just make allegations like without the facts, you have no proof…!" Tigress said, trying to control herself.

"No proof? Oh please, I have ALL the proof I need just from the both of reaction right in front of me," Mantis said while hopping away to get some distance from the Tiger. "Besides, Po has something you don't." He added.

"And what in the name of the Gods would that be?" she asked, still not believing him.

"I'll put it in a way, which can be easily understood. Po; He's tons of fun and you're no fun at all. He completes you." Mantis said banteringly while tapping his two thingies together, making a light 'clink' sounds, which caused a roar of laughter from everyone in the room. In Tigress' defense, she had nothing to counter that. It wasn't the fact she thought about being married to Po from time to time, it was the point that she and Po were being made fun of about it. So, she just sat back down, and regained her clam demeanor in an eerie way.

"Very well Mantis, Po and I will play the part of being the children's foster parents," Tigress said calmly.

"Awesome, now we can-" "However," Tigress added, cutting the insect off, making him shiver a bit.

"However?" he asked, somehow not liking where this was going.

"For the next 2 _**MONTHS**_, You will be my sparring partner, NO QUESTION ASKED." she emphasized, letting go a predatory grin, causing the bug to gulp.

"Say what? C'mon Tigress, don't do this, that's even worse than almost having my head eaten off!" Mantis panicked. Tigress merely shook her head 'no', still wearing a grin. The bug master couldn't help but wallow in his despair.

"Sorry man, but you had it coming." Said Monkey.

"An eye for an eye." Crane lectured.

"Perhaps this will teach you not to mess our sister." Viper gently chided.

"Aghhh… Fuck My Life…" Mantis groaned out.

"M-marriage?" Po asked himself, having not paid attention to the others.

***Later-

A few hours later, it was no longer the early hours of the early dawn, it was now morning and everyone was spending it their way.

Crane was practicing his calligraphy.

Viper was trying on various accessories and make-up products she bought the other day.

Monkey was practicing his tail-ups.

Mantis disappeared to only the Gods know where.

And both Po and Tigress, along with Xiwang, had departed the Palace grounds and made their way out of the Valley of Peace while heading over to the Bao Gu orphanage which was in the distance but was slowly getting closer as they continued the trek. Along the way, it was an awkward silence between the trio. Neither Po or Tigress dare say anything about the current situation, while Xiwang was an innocent bystander while standing in-between them.

Normally, if was under different circumstances, Po would be chatting up a storm with Tigress, but that's not the case here, he was on his way to fulfill his promise to the two girls, by adopting them and filling in the position as their foster father while Tigress was the foster mother.

Both Po and Tigress had a miserable look on their faces.

Xiwang looked up at the two of them and could see that they both were still bothered about the early morning and couldn't help but feel for them.

'They must still be upset about this morning, hmmm; perhaps I can take their minds off it.' The cub thought. He took a breath and relaxed a bit before calling out to the Dragon Warrior. "Hey Po?" Xiwang called out to him.

"Yeah little buddy, what's up?" Po asked. Xiwang could see the change on his face, he was now smiling cheerfully.

"So when we go to pick up Līmīng and Qīānxī, does that make them my sisters?" Xi asked in a somewhat hopeful manner.

"That's right Xi; you're going to have little sisters, making you the big brother." Po said while smiling.

"Really, I get to be the big brother?" he asked again, smiling a little.

"Yep, you do, but it means that you also have to look out for them as well. That's what big brothers do for the younger siblings. You think you can handle it?" Po asked.

"Yeah, I'll do my best!" The cub said while grinning.

"There we go, that's the attitude I'm looking for." Po said while placing his paw on his head and ruffling his fur a bit, making the cub chuckle a bit. Even though Xiwang's frame was still a bit on the thin side, in the last few hours from when they had breakfast, his appearance and health underwent a huge change. He was still thin, but his muscles were coming back, even though his fur was still dirty, he was starting to look healthy again, which everyone found weird in a way. Normally it would take a while to reverse the effects, but he managed to regain the needed essentials in a matter of hours, which still baffled Po, but that was the last thing on his mind, he was just glad that the cub was showing signs of recovery. With Tigress, she along with Po noticed that he had a sword with him when they found him this morning, neither she or Po bothered to ask about it, but seeing now was as a good time as any other, she decided to ask him.

"Excuse me, Xiwang?" she called down to the cub, who turned his attention up to her, his healthy blue eyes met with her red ones. As she looked into them, she felt this warmth steadily flow into her, like a mother bonding with her newborn cub. Sure, Tigress still had a ways to go before she could even be granted that title by the boy, but that's what she was feeling right now, she felt Xiwang was her son and she, his mother. It was such a rare, yet warming sensation coursing through her body, but one that she could get used to.

"Yes Master Tigress?" he responded to her.

"I don't mean to pry but, earlier this morning; you were carrying a sword with you correct?" Tigress asked in a dignified, but clam tone, trying not to upset the boy.

"Yes, I was, I didn't think anybody would notice it, what about it?" he asked, still smiling at her.

"If I'm not being too bold, can you please tell me where you attained it?" she asked back. Xiwang hesitated a bit, but didn't show it; instead, he looked down, and splayed his ears back in a bashful manner, his tail twitching from side to side, with his paws behind his back, cupping each other.

"W-well, if you wanna know, that sword I left back at the Jade Palace, it's actually a family heirloom. I was next in line to inherit it… well, thanks to the circumstances before; I'm its sole wielder now." He answered, his ears popping back up, while his tail continued to twitch back and forth.

"I-I see, I apologize. I shouldn't have asked or bring up those memories…" Tigress replied.

"Oh no, it's okay Mam-" Xiwang caught himself in time before saying the entire phrase. It was still too soon to call her that. He would address her as his mother in time, but not now. "I mean, Master Tigress. It's okay. Even though it's happened, I'm gradually coming to terms with the reality of the matter rather than dwelling on it." He answered, his manner of speech slightly catching her off guard, but she only nodded at the answer she received.

"Yes, that's a mature way to look at things. I'm glad to see that you are handling it well." Tigress said while smiling warmly at the cub.

"Thank you, Master Tigress." Xiwang replied.

"You're welcome young one." She said.

Feeling the gratitude was in order, as the trio continued the walk to the Bao Gu orphanage, Xiwang reached up to Tigress' paw and placed his paw into hers, not even daring to look up at the feline. Instead, he expected her to move paw away from his, but instead, he felt it grip his, sharing the warmth. Xiwang only smiled, as did Tigress, even though he didn't see her do it. With Po just on the side line, just smile at the two, glad that they were sorta bonding.

After the walking, all three of them were standing in front of the entry to the Bao Gu orphanage. Po could easily the agitation in Xiwang's eyes, while witnessing the brittle revulsion in Tigress' scarlet Irises. Po could understand why both of them felt that way, but he tried his best to keep the peace.

"Alright guys, this is it. Once we get Līmīng and Qīānxī, we'll be on our way. Tigress, If you want, I'll go in by myself and-" "No." Tigress interjected, not even bothering to look at him.

"Huh? A-are you sure?" Po asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to know why the children here did what they did to Xiwang and why the caretaker did nothing to stop it." Tigress said with a slight growl in her voice, not pleased with the fact that Xiwang was treated worst that she was. She didn't know why, but this drive to make sure that Xiwang was happy and secured was coursing through her veins in a high manner, but she kept herself calm and collected. She would dare sully her honor on this.

"Alright, if you say so," Po responded before knocking on the door to the building with five solid knocks. After a bit of waiting and anticipation building, the door to the orphanage opened and out, walked the elderly sheep caretaker; Ms. Guānchājiā, wearing a simple qipao with her arms behind her. It looked like she was up for a while. "Good morning Ms. Guānchājiā. I see you've been up for a while now." Po said to her.

"Ah, good morning Dragon Warrior, what brings you here so early? Wait let me guess, you're here to talk to Līmīng and Qīānxī again right?" she asked in a cheery tone.

"Close, but actually Ma'am, I'm here to adopt the twin panda cubs, that I promised them." Po said

"Ah, those girls. I'm glad you did, they've been here over three months since they were placed here by their father. Such a sad fate that befell him and his wife." She said while looking at him.

"What happened to the actual parents?" Po asked.

"Sadly, from what the father told me, the mother, she died of sickness, the father, what happened to him is a mystery. All that happened was that he brought them here and what happened to him after that, I don't know. All that he said to me was I make sure that the Dragon Warrior meet and adopt them, after that, the rest is unknown." The caretaker said.

"Really? The dad wanted me to adopt them? I wonder why he did it," Po thought aloud.

"I wish I knew more, but he didn't say anything about it, just to make sure that you adopted them." Guānchājiā stated. "Well, since you are here, please come with me so we can get them." She added while leading the way for him to follow. After Po stepped inside and followed the sheep, Tigress and Xiwang were left there to talk amongst themselves. While still looking on the inside of the place that she hated, Xiwang tugged at her paw, gaining her attention.

"Xiwang, what's the matter?" she asked.

"Tigress, that caretaker, she wasn't the one trying to hurt me…" he trailed.

"What are you saying, you said caretaker, so she was the one who was trying to hurt you, right?" Tigress asked.

"No! That wasn't her, that wasn't her!" Xiwang said while, looking to the side while shaking his head in denial.

"Wasn't her, Xiwang, what are you talking about?" Tigress asked.

"The caretaker, that wasn't the one from yesterday. It's someone else!" the cub said urgently.

"Someone else? Xiwang, who exactly did you see yesterday that was taking Ms. Guānchājiā's place?" Tigress asked while kneeling down and looking at the cub while resting her paws on his shoulders, looking into his eyes.

"Well, it was someone else, the caretaker I saw from yesterday wasn't a sheep; it was a fox, a vixen to be correct." Xi said to Tigress.

"Vixen, another carnivore in the Valley? Xiwang, I need you to tell me, can you point out anything that made her look different?" Tigress asked.

"Yeah, I can, she had yellow eyes, black fur, a purple Qipao, a scare over her right eye, a knick on her left ear and a tail ring on the mid-section." Xiwang pointed out.

"Alright, what about her height?" Tigress asked once more.

"Ummm, About the height of your shoulder." Xiwang guessed.

"Good, what about her personality, can you tell?" Tigress asked.

"Cold, very cold, cold as ice," The Cub replied instantly while folding his arms, lightly feeling a chill. "She looked like she wanted to kill me…" he added.

"A look of wanting to kill…" Tigress said to herself while thinking.

"Tigress… I'm scared, can we leave now?" Xiwang asked while looking at her, his eyes squinting in fear.

"Of course, It shouldn't be too long now, so just hang on a little-" Tigress was saying, but stopped when she felt Xiwang still shivering, to the point where his eyes were closed and his tail coiled around his leg. It seemed that words weren't reaching him, so she decided to do the next best thing; she embraced him with a warm hug, hoping it would help, and it did. The moment Xiwang felt the heat radiating off Tigress, he smuggled into the warmth and calmed down.

"Xiwang, you have nothing to worry about. Like Po said, both he and I along with everyone else in the Jade Palace, we'll protect you, I promise." Tigress said with a smile. Xiwang looked up from her chest and simply nodded before backing up and placing both paws behind his back.

"Okay, thank you." He replied while smiling. A few minutes after the two finished talking, both Xiwang's and Tigress's ear twitched at the heavy foot falls, signifying that Po had returned, finishing what needed to be done.

"Hey guys, I'm back!" he called out while walking out of the building, a smile clearly evident on his face.

"Welcome back. Did you take care of business?" Tigress asked.

"You bet I did!" Po said with a grin on his face. "But okay, enough of that, allow me," He said while stepping to the side of the doorway. "Tigress, Xiwang, allow me to introduce, Līmīng and Qīānxī. Okay girls, you can come out now." Po said to the doorway. A few seconds later, two small figures, smaller than Xiwang, walked out of the building and into the light revealing themselves to the two felines that were waiting. Once outside of Bao Gu orphanage, there stood Līmīng and Qīānxī side by side; The one in red had her paws behind her back and her down slightly, while the sister had both paws resting on her hips in that haughty manner, with a look and smile that said 'we're finally free of that dump!'

Both Xiwang and Tigress looked upon the two and everything that Po described about them this morning was true to his word, the eye colors, the Qipaos they were wearing and the accessories they had, they were all there.

"Go on girls, no need be shy; just introduce yourselves to Tigress and your new big brother." Po said to them. They both looked at him and nodded curtly, before walking over to them. When they approached the two tigers, they both had smiles on their faces.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Master Tigress," both girls said while doing the traditional bow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Po has told me much about you two." Tigress said while smiling.

"He has? We feel special," Līmīng said, cupping her paws together.

"Really special," Qīānxī followed up.

"Special indeed." They both said together while looking at each with smiles before looking back to Tigress.

"Hello Qīānxī and Līmīng, m-my name is Xiwang," The cub introduced himself to the girls before him. Līmīng smiled at him with her sweetest smile, but Qīānxī looked him over curiously with an arched eyebrow. She moved a little closer to him and leaned over to him with using her top half while keeping her paws on her hips and scanning him up and down with her blue eyes. Xiwang felt a tad uncomfortable while being analyzed by the female panda until she grinned and looked at her sister, who was most likely thinking the same thing as she was.

"He's cute, isn't he cute?" Qīānxī asked.

"Really cute," Līmīng added.

"Very cute indeed." They both said at the same time, giggling afterwards. The tiger cub, blushed deeply and looked down to hoping that they wouldn't see it, but his body language told them another story, but they decided to keep it to themselves, for now.

"Wow, not only do you two look alike and talk alike; you even think alike as well." Tigress complemented.

"Of course we think alike Qīānxī and I, we share a link but with our minds." Līmīng said proudly.

"A link with you minds…? You two are telepathic?" Tigress asked, realizing what she meant.

"That's right, we are!" Qīānxī said. "We stand out from the other kids at the orphanage greatly. Me and my sister, we have two type powers, which can set us apart. Would you like to see?" Līmīng asked.

Are you sure you want to share that with us so soon? We just met today; you don't know how Xiwang or I will react to the display." Tigress advised.

"It's okay, you won't freak out about, nor will you shun us either, 'cause that's not how you do things, you were taught that from you deceased Master; Master Oogway." Qīānxī said with a smile, making Tigress and Xiwang stare at them with a look of surprise.

"How… how did you-" Tigress started but was cut off "Know about that and Master Oogway?" she let out a giggle before continuing. "Simple, it's one of the two abilities that I have. It's called Telepathy, I can read the minds of others." She said while smiling.

"You can read other's minds, isn't that a bit invasive?" Tigress asked.

"And fun at first back then, but soon afterwards, I couldn't turn it off and it would cause problems, I would have headaches for days and days on end to point where I wanted to stab myself in the head, ram it against the walls, slam rocks onto it, just about anything to block out the constant thoughts that came pouring in. It was a real struggle." She added.

"Oh my, it sounds like having telepathy isn't something worth putting up with in the least." Tigress said.

"That's what I thought as well, but when my sister introduced me to meditation, I was able to calm my power and able to get on with my daily life without having it go all out of whack," she said before smiling deviously. "But on the bright side of things, thanks to having these powers and along with the help of Qīānxī's help, we were always one step ahead of the bullies in the orphanage every single time, and even got away with a few pranks on them as well." Līmīng said while smiling happily. Even though they were just meeting for the first time, Tigress was already beginning to like them, especially the antics for getting back at others without causing too much trouble.

"Wow you two are only nine years old and are already thinking like Monkey, I'm impressed." She mused.

"Thank you!" they both said while smiling at her with wide grins.

"So, umm, what is your other power?" Xiwang asked the cub in red.

"Oh, right! That, I almost forgot about that. Well, I'll show you guys some other time or sooner than you think. But I can say it, the second power I have is called Astral Projection." She admitted proudly.

"Astral Projection, you mean you can leave your body whenever you choose to?" Xiwang asked this time.

"That's right, I can leave my body whenever I want, but I can only travel up to 15 kilometers." Līmīng said.

"15 kilometers, how much is that?" Xiwang asked.

"It means she can travel ten miles." Tigress said to the cub.

"That's right, but on the negative side of that; my body is absolutely vulnerable to the rest of the world and it becomes a suitable vessel for any other spirits nearby wanting a body to possess." She added.

"S-sounds scary." Xiwang added, feeling a shudder go down his spine.

"It is, but it's okay, it happened once though, but she was a nice spirit, she just wanted her one day to be alive again before departing to the afterlife. Her name was Huā; she was a bunny who died from a sickness many months back. But she's in a better place now." The panda cub said while smiling.

"You're such a kind hearted girl, even at your age. You'll make a great remodel when your older." Tigress complemented.

"Thank you!" Līmīng replied.

"You're very welcome. What about you Qīānxī, what powers do you have?" Tigress asked the twin.

"I'm glad you asked. Now would you like me to tell you, or show you?" she asked.

"You can show us later, for now, you can tell us while we head back to the Palace; we've already spent enough time here as it is." Po said while walking in between them, petting both of their heads.

"Okay!" They both replied cheerfully while looking up at him.

After bidding the Caretaker of the orphanage a good day, the five departed the area and began their walk back to the Jade Palace. Along the way, the company was very lively with the panda twin's experiences, Po's antics, Xiwang's developing stay at the Jade Palace and Tigress' dedication to Kung Fu… if that was a valued topic to talk about. During the moment of their conversation, Xiwang brought up a topic that wasn't discussed back at the Orphanage.

"Excuse me Qīānxī?" Xiwang called out.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asked back.

"Your sister said that you also two powers of your own, but we never got to hear you talk about it. Can you tell us what they are?" he asked.

"Well, you asked the right panda about powers, aside from my sister. You see, one of the two powers that I have is called Card Reading," she said proudly.

"What's card reading?" Xiwang asked.

"I'm glad you asked. You see, Card Reading is a type of Divination, meaning with the cards that I hide in my outfit; I can either predict the future, see someone's fate and recall prophecies partly," she answered while grinning.

"Wow, you can tell all that just from cards? Then does it mean that they're all true?" Xiwang asked.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, just because I can foretell the future, it doesn't mean that it will always come true. For example with future predictions; if someone were to have a vision that they or someone else knew that a pot was going to break, they have two options from what they saw. They can either prevent it from happening, or just let it happen and go on with their way. See where I'm going this?" Qīānxī asked the tiger cub next to her.

"Ohhh, I see it now, okay, I got it." Xiwang answered.

"Good, remember; the future isn't set in stone, it can always be changed, now onto the next one: Fate. Just like seeing the future, fate follows the same principles but it works a little differently. You see, when it comes to fate, it can fall on anyone; like me or you or Master Tigress, or it can fall on anything; A forest, a lake, a mountain, or even tradition. The thing about fate is that it works in mysterious ways. Again, here three examples, but let's use Master Tigress, if that's fine with her," Qīānxī asked.

"Yes, it's alright with me." Tigress replied.

"Okay! Now, Here we have Master Tigress," the cub said while pointing at her. "And here we have… ummm," she trialed while looking for something on the ground to help with her explanation, they all stopped walking while she continued her search. Her eyes fell upon three rocks that were nearby. "Ah, these will work nicely," she said while heading over to the spot and retrieved the objects. She scampered back to the group and bent down to place the rocks in front of Tigress. "Ok, now as I was saying, here we have Master Tigress and these three rocks represent her fate. Now, the way her fate works is decided by the amount of dedication in both her willpower and absolute determination. With that dedication, she can do anything. Let's say she's in a fight for her life and she lost, due to a near fatal blow," She said causing Xiwang to nod in affirmation. On the side, both Tigress and Po couldn't help but smile at the little scene that was going on before them. She leaned over to Po and whispered,

"You know, I wouldn't let myself be done in so easily right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I know, you're too hardcore for that." Po whispered back with a grin.

Back with the cubs, Qīānxī continued her explanation. "Even though she suffered a near fatal blow, she's still alive. In that moment this is where her fate comes into play. Option one: She can recover from her blow and continue to fight with her all might and win, Option two: She make this fight her last, recover from her injuries, retires and live the rest of her days in peace, or Option three: She can resign herself to her current fate and die there on the battle field." She said.

"Ohhh, so there are many options besides just one. Okay, I get it now." Xiwang responded while nodding, making both panda girls giggle lightly.

"Glad to see that you understand. Next is that last one: Prophecy. Like visions of the future and fate, prophecy follows the same principle, but the thing about prophecies, they nearly always come true." She said.

"Wow, really?" he asked.

"That's right, but even though a prophecy is nearly always true, there is still a chance that it won't." the panda cub answered.

"Really, how much of chance is there that it won't happen?" Xiwang asked.

"Well… Let me put it this way. The chances of a prophecy being avoided are like this. 90% is that will most likely happen and 10% is that it won't." she answered.

"Wow, those aren't very good odds." Xiwang answered.

"Yes, but even if it's down to 1% never give up hope, no matter what the odds are, so long as it's not 0%." Qīānxī said. The word 'hope' reverberated in his head over and over. He was puzzled that something that's so fragile can give one so much power. The concept evaded him, but he was positive that he would understand it more in the future.

"Okay, I think I understand card reading. But what about your other power?" the cub asked.

"Glad you asked that too. The second power I have is called Psionic Blast." She said proudly.

"Psionic blast?" they all, aside from her sister, asked.

"It means I can either make spheres of energy, the effects however, vary with my emotions. Like, if I'm happy; the spheres can heal others, if sad; they will lower motivation and overall performances, if angered or excited; they'll explode, but that being said, I can make them explode whenever I want." She said with a devious smirk.

"Whenever you want, isn't that a tad dangerous?" Po asked.

"It is, but it was fun spooking the kids back at the orphanage with little explosion late night, especially after they tried to bully my sister." Qīānxī said while folding her arms.

"You know, using powers that way-" "Is the wrong thing to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that enough from sister y'know," Qīānxī pouted, puffing her cheeks out. "But hey, they had it coming, those jerks. Anyways, on the topic of Psionic blasts, that even deviates to Telekinesis and my personal favorite; Mind control." She said with a grin.

"Let me guess, you used mind control to further humiliate the bullies?" Tigress asked. 'She probably did.' Tigress thought.

"For starters, No I didn't. Second, it's my policy to only use it once on that person, never a second time." Qīānxī said.

"You have policies?" Tigress asked.

"Of course, I may have powers like my sister, but I'm no brute, I am an eloquent and elegant young lady who shows self-control." She said in a dignified manner, while cupping her paws together in front of her.

'Oh please, you're anything but those choice words.' Tigress thought while looking to the side. Līmīng placed a paw to mouth and let out a small giggle after reading Tigress' thoughts.

"Hey, what did she say?" Qīānxī demanded from her sister.

"Oh it was nothing, nothing at all, my dear sister." Līmīng said in a sing-song voice.

"You know I can hear what you think right, we do share a connection after all," Qīānxī reminded.

"Yes, but my telepathy is stronger, that means I can choose if I want you to hear them or not." Līmīng said while playfully sticking her tongue out at her sister playfully before running ahead of the group. Qīānxī quickly shook of her shocked look and chased after, laughing happily. As the two girls ran ahead, Xiwang directed Po's attention to him.

"Hey Po?" the cub called out to panda.

"Yeah strippy buddy, what's up?" Po asked back, a smile on his face.

"Is there someone who you fight against? Someone strong?" he asked back.

"Well, when I think about it, yeah, there is," Po replied.

"Who is it?" Xiwang asked again.

"Well, I don't know his name, but from what I heard from scrolls and the various people I've met, there is this one guy, that's supposed to be really amazing and VERY strong. They say he wears a red headband, a white gi, and red gloves and that he travels around a lot," Po said.

"Wow, anything else that the people say?" The cub asked.

"Hmmm… Oh yeah, there is! They also say that he's really powerful and he can fire pure energy from just his paws, which is TOTALLY AWESOME! I hope he travels to China one day; I'd love to get the chance to fight him one-on-one, maybe even teach me how to do what he can do." Po said with his traditional fist pump to the air. Tigress couldn't help but chuckle at his eagerness of wanting to take on a strong opponent. Xiwang could only marvel at his role model. He was about to say something else, but the call of his name by two voice called out to him.

"Hey Xiwang, we'll race you back to the Valley! Hurry up we already got a head start!" called Līmīng, laughing sweetly. Apparently, their happiness was contagious; forget what he and Po talked about, Xiwang joined in the race with the panda twins, laughing as well. As the children before ran on ahead to the Valley, both Po and Tigress couldn't help chuckle at the scene in front of them. Things at the Jade Palace were about to get very interesting.

After making their way back to the Valley, passing through the town, up the thousand steps and past the Jade Palace arena, all five of them made it up to the Palace. Upon entering past the large oak doors, they were greeted by the other five who were waiting at the entrance, eager to meet the two new additions of the Palace; the only one who was amused by the sudden news was Shifu, but there wasn't a trace of annoyance on his aged face.

'Of all the idiotic things for the Panda to do, this by far has to be the dumbest! No matter, I will punish him for this later.' Shifu thought to himself, unaware that his mind was being read.

"Po, you're in a lot of trouble." Līmīng advised while smiling at him.

"It goes with saying that I am…" Po said to her, but realized what just happened, making his eyes go wide and a smirk appear on his face. "You didn't…" he trailed.

"I did." She replied back, smiling.

"Did what?" Shifu asked.

"Nothing." Both Po and Līmīng said at the same time.

'Oh this is going to be so much fun; we're SO going to screw with Shifu's head!' Po thought aloud.

"Indeed we are." Līmīng answered again.

"Indeed what?" Shifu asked again, feeling a tad anxious.

"Nothing Master Shifu." They both replied once more, trying hard not to laugh. Shifu just raised an eyebrow of suspicion but decided to keep quiet about, for now. With the others, they couldn't help smile at the two girls in the Palace.

"Alright, you two go on and introduce yourselves to the others." Po said. The twins looked at him and nodded.

"Hello everyone. I'm Līmīng," said the panda in red.

"And I'm Qīānxī," said the panda in blue.

"It's an honor to meet you all." They said in unison. Līmīng placed her paws behind her back and Qīānxī placed a paw on her right hip.

"Awww, they're SO cute!" Viper squealed as she looked upon them and the way they were dressed, she was particularly fond of the lotus pieces on them. "Thanks you!" they both replied at the same time.

"Well, well, well, two more pandas in the Valley, must feel nice to have your species here as well huh Po?" asked Monkey. "You could say that." Po replied.

"Where'd you two come from?" Crane asked.

"We don't know…" they answered.

"Sorry I asked that." Crane replied.

"Its okay!" they both answered with smiles on their faces.

"Hey, they look like tiny versions of Po!" Mantis remarked. "Like they could be his daughters or something." He added.

"Nah." Po replied.

"Well, now that we have two more children here, you along with Xiwang are now residence of the Jade Palace, home to Kung Fu. I am Master Shifu; the Grandmaster of the Palace. These four here are-" He started "Master Viper, Master Crane, Master Monkey and Master Mantis, we know." They both said at the same time cutting of Shifu while smile happily at the aged red panda.

"Ah, so you do, well, that makes things easier on us. Now, since you two are residence here, which manner of style will you two learn?" Shifu asked.

"Panda style as our main choice!" the twins said in unison.

"Awesome! Only one day, and you two already want to learn the same style as me! Don't worry; I'll make sure you two get it right away." Po said.

"Okay, but we want to learn another style too," They said.

"Alright, what do you want to lean also?" Po asked.

"I wanna learn snake style." Said Qīānxī.

"And I want to learn Tiger style." Replied Līmīng, following up with her sister.

"Alight, noted. In the future, I will assign both Viper and Tigress to be your mentors, but for now, you, your sister, and your brother, with start with the Kung Fu introductory classes, but before that, you will show us what you can do with the training dummy. Shall we?" Shifu asked as he led the way to the dojo. The others followed behind while talking amongst themselves. As they walked, Viper turned her head to Xiwang and attracted his attention.

"Xiwang, while you were out, we pick out some new clothes for you to wear, since your old ones were falling apart. After you show us what you can do, you can wash up and try them on." The tree snake said with a smile on her face.

"Thank you Master Viper, but what about my sword?" he asked.

"It's in the dojo by the entrance. I have to admit, it's a very impressive one." Viper added.

"Thank you; it's a family heirloom after all." Xiwang replied humbly.

After a bit of walking, they made it the dojo, where all the training equipment is set up and ready to be used at any time of the day, but today was for the children only. Like viper said, the cub's sword by the doorway. Immediately, he broke from the group, picked up his sheathed sword and walked back to them, feeling complete that he had his sword in his paws once again. By now, everyone was over where the dummy was; it had a silly look on his face, like it was BEGGING to be smacked around a few times. Shifu cleared his throat, attracting the cubs' attention.

"Now, you three cubs step forward," Shifu commanded. Without delay, the three kids did as they were told and stepped into the front, where they awaited further instructions. "Now, before we start the introductory classes, you three will use this dummy as your opponent. Attack it in any way you see fit. The way you attack will determine your course of how you will approach an enemy during real battles. Do not be ashamed if you miss, stumble, or fumble, this is just practice, just try again until you have attained the feel the correct way of engagement with an enemy. Do not be afraid if you fail," Shifu said with a smile, making the cubs a little more relaxed. "Alright Līmīng" Shifu asked.

"Yes Master Shifu." The cub in red answered.

"Good. Now, attack." He ordered.

"Yes Master." She answered, she briefly pondered on to make the dummy fall back. After remembered what style she wanted to learn, and decided to impress the Tiger master. Walking over to the dummy, she took in a breath and readied herself. She stepped back once and lifted on foot just a quarter. Bring it down with some force, she went into a stomp forward she placed both paws together and folded them back and launched her arms forward while her paw digits were in the formation of actual tiger claws.

And contact. She stuck the dummy, making it fall back with surprising force, before bobbed back and repeated the process. Once done, she relaxed and stepped back as Shifu approached her.

"Ah, so you prefer the direct approach with power to assist you I see. Good, you are a direct fighter. Very good, you can step back now." Shifu said.

"Thank you Master." She replied while placing her fist into her palm and bowing.

"You're welcome. Now, Qīānxī, it is your turn." Shifu instructed.

"Yes Master." She reached into her child sized Qipao and pulled out a fan, with a blue inside. She opened the fan and held in front of her face, while her whole body did a half turn, her free paw clenched. After a few minutes of prepping, she moved into action with some speed. She dashed to the side while holding her fan in front of the dummy's face, did a 180 degree counterclockwise, causing the fan to do a slice. With her speed once more, she moved to the back and to the left side with a clockwise slash of her fan and ended it with returning to the original position in front of the dummy, meaning she went in a complete circle around it, leaving slash marks on it. Now done, she closed her fan, and turned to Shifu, who was now approaching her.

"That was an excellent display of diverse indirect attacking young one. The manner of attack that you chose, you prefer to catch the enemy off guard and weaken his defense and stamina. An excellent idea when fighting a powerful enemy. Very well done, you may step back now," Shifu said.

"Thank you Master." She replied.

"Alright Xiwang, now it is your turn. Approach," Shifu commanded. The tiger cub did as he was told and approached the dummy. "Now, choose which manner you use to attack an enemy, and begin." Shifu instructed.

"alright, here I go," the cub said while unsheathing his sword, slowly but surely. As the cub continued to bring out his sword, Po mysteriously began to feel pain arise on his chest, it was dull, but it was gradually getting worse, his arms were beginning to hurts as well, but he casted aside casually. Once the sword was free from its sheath, a sudden shock of pain ran all throughout Po's body, making him grunt lightly, but she still ignored it. Now that his sword was free, Xiwang took a stance while he held his sword with one paw pointed at the stuffed dummy. He inhaled through his nose and exhaled with his mouth, calming himself, before launching towards the target. In one step, he trusted the swords forwards, impaling the object, but he wasn't done, he continued with his assault, flinging his arm up, causing the dummy to go airborne. He stepped back and waited for it to come back down and waited. After it did, it bounced once and then the tiger swung his sword repeatedly, tallying up a total of ten hits, once he landed them all, he momentarily stopped to regain his posture. The others were amazed, but Po was now in pain, for some reason. Whenever Xi swung his sword, the pain accumulated in Po's body, by now he was struggling to stay on his feet and his breathing was labored as was the sweat on his brow. Tigress noticed him, and whispered to him, not wanting the others to overhear.

"Po, are you alright?" She asked.

"I-I don't know why, I don't know why I'm feeling this way… I w-was fine before, what happened all of a sudden?" Po asked. Tigress placed a paw on him and felt him burning up. This definitely was not normal by any means. How could a perfectly healthy man because sick and fatigued so suddenly? It just didn't make any sense.

Thinking that the cub was done, Shifu commended him from afar before approaching him.

"Well done, that was a most magnificent display with a sword by one of your age, A prodigy if I say so myself. I think that I can allow you to-" "I'm not finished." Xiwang cut in, to Shifu's surprise, the cub's voice changed; it went from kindhearted and calm to an eerily calm tone with hints of maliciousness in it, which caught everyone by surprise.

"Not done, you mean there's more?" Shifu asked.

"That's what 'not finished' means Shifu." He replied haughtily while gripping the face of the dummy, dragging it to the center of the dojo where there was more space. Shifu and the others were stunned by change in the cub's voice, it was calm, strange, and dark, like a new Xiwang replaced the old kind one.

"No… something's going to happen, I don't know what, but something's going to happen for sure." Po said to Tigress but then grunted in pain and holds his clenched arms to his chest, the pain coming at him in bigger blasts, making him go weak in the knees. Tigress quickly gripped him and held him up. Tigress took his word for it, but didn't what exactly she was to stop for Po didn't say who or what, all he did was give her a warning of something.

In the center, Xiwang placed dummy where he wanted. And stepped back a few feet and prepared himself for his continued onslaught. "Make sure you pay attention, because I'm not doing this again, Got it memorized?" he asked while chuckling a little at the end of that sentence. "Now, let's get started." He raised his sword up and slashed down while say, "Blight!" On command, a small circular sound wave had appeared from the slash of the sword. Everybody could only stare in awe at what they were seeing, something that was intangible was now orbiting the tiger cub, but he didn't stop there, he raised his sword another time and brought it down, this time saying, "Blame!" he then raised his sword and brought it down reciting, "Discipline !" Now all three rotating things were rotating around him. "Now, let's begin." He said while swing his sword at the dummy upwards, launching it skyward. While coming down, he placed the steel in front of his face and recited the needed chant. What he did next made everyone just gawk.

"_**The magnitude shall rain down!" **_ He commanded, striking the blade with one of his claws. On cue, the spheres began to vibrate at a high frequency, causing the dummy to be constantly smacked within the vibrating place repeatedly while still in the air. Until they were finished, one the final attack launched the dummy back into the air, higher than the last time.

"How is he doing this, he's the complete opposite of the cub that they met this morning!" said Mantis, not knowing whether to be shocked or amused at the boy. Shifu's reaction however remained the same; a straight face was plastered, not twitching in even the slightest. His attention however, he noticed that Po was kneeling on the ground in agony while holding his chest, breathing heavily. It was fair to say that The Dragon Warrior and tiger cub had some sort of link of their own. He let out a sigh, and continued to watch the cub continue, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

'It looks like it is finally happening. I honestly never thought the signs were would begin so early; if that's the case, It's time I introduced Po the Sacred Scroll, the question though, is which path shall he take?' Shifu thought.

Back with the cub, the dummy was returning to earth, what he did next shocked them all. Just as the dummy was about to hit the ground, Xiwang stuck his sword outwards, hitting the object while shouting _**"Betraying Trajectory!"**_ On command the dummy was encased with a glowing sphere around it and the sword stuck in it. In that instant, he teleported from where he was standing only to reappear above his target with several glowing spikes that were rapidly glowing brighter and getting bigger at the same time, Once they reached a certain point and was about to be released, but before that, what he shouted next caused everyone, aside from Shifu, to shudder.

"_**IF THE WORLD DIES, SO WILL I!"**_ Upon that saying, the glowing spears launched at the same time and impaled the dummy just he teleported back to his original position, just in time to catch his sword. Once done, the dummy had various holes and scratches on it, it was still standing, not that it mattered. He sheathed his sword till it 'clicked' close, but once he did that, Po's pain and agony just suddenly disappeared, as if it never happened but in turn, a wave of tiredness and exhaustion overcame the boy, causing him to fall to his knees. In his weakness, he unintentionally let go of his sword, causing it to fall beside him. He was panting heavily like had done laps like never before, and his vision blackened as well meaning he passed out, thanks to the audible 'thud' as he hit the ground face first.

After they all shock off their shock, the wellbeing of the tiger cub hit them like war hammer, and they all, aside from Shifu, ran over to him, seeing if he was alright.

The aged Master sighed and collected his thoughts as he walked over to them while he was thinking to himself. 'So, that was the infamous 'Gōngmīng Gāng sword'. I never would have thought that something so powerful would be placed in the hands of a child, but like my Master said, things happen for a reason. Whatever that reason is, it's linked to Po in more ways than one, and I intend to find out.' He thought, unaware that his mind was being read by a certain panda nearby, eyed him suspiciously.

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**Chapter 3: Enterprises and Training surprises – Chapter End**

And that wraps up chapter 3 folks.

*whew* I tell ya, doing this things ain't easy, but it's sure as hell worth it! So, what did you guys think of the two new characters? Oh just imagine the chaos that will ensue with these two *evil laugh* Having psychic powers are so kool. :). Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, stay tuned for next one. Chapter 4: Choices and Actions, where things start to get heavy. But before the chapter, I will post a questionnaire, where you, the readers will answer. Your answers will decided what route Po will take, be sure to choose which answer feels right to you. I'll do that later, but for now, tell me what you think alright? Thanx.

Now, let me know what you think of the new characters okay? Be honest with your reviews, and please, leave more than just a few words of liking it. I'm glad you do and I'm grateful that you all stayed with me this far, but please tell me what you REALLY think, so I can get better.

On that note, to all the Ryu lovers and players out there, this shout out goes to you guys! XD And if you're wondering why I said paws, because in the world of Kung Fu Panda, there are no humans in it of course.

Welp. Till next time guys, see ya!


	4. Chapter 4 Choices and Actions

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**:Sacred Scroll – Diqiu:**

**Chapter 4: Choices and Actions**

**Quote(s): "Trust your instincts to the end, though you can render no reason" – ****Ralph Waldo Emerson **

"**Actions are the seed of fate, deeds grow them into destiny" - ****A. L. Linall Jr.**

**A/N: **Oh my god readers, I'm SO sorry for the late update, I got side track with a load of stuff, I've been studying, it's just been hectic and junk. Well, I'm sure you don't want to wait any longer, so I won't stall you with the intro, so here we go, and once again, thank you for putting up with the wait. And just so you, I started working on The Baby, so look forward to that. So here go.

Copyright: I DO NOT own Kung Fu Panda, nor will I ever –Copyright pending demons… OH!

Now here we go.

Darkness.

Simply Darkness

Nothing but Darkness, for that was all that was there.

Up

Down

Left

Right

It didn't matter where he looked, all he saw was Darkness. Deep, Inky, Endless, Undiscriminating Darkness and it surrounded him; sight and all, yet at the same time, a sensation of calmness ran though out his body, so did a feeling of a familiarity, it felt like he belonged here, in this dank darkness; as cub to its mother. Still, in this space of lightlessness, his curiosity got the better of him.

"W-where am I?" Xiwang asked to the nobody that was there with him. He felt like he was just floating there in nothing, only to see that he was. He was able to see his body as he looked down to inspect himself. Still, the fact that he could see himself in the Darkness around him was a bit unsettling.

"Why am I here? All I remember was that I was training with the training dummy, I drew my sword, something happened in my head and then I blacked out, but that's all I remember… Where am I? Where's Po? Po, where are you!" Xiwang called out into the darkness, hoping to here from his monochromatic friend and guardian, only to receive a soul chilling response from a voice that came from behind say, "Your fat friend isn't here to help you Xiwang."

The cub's eyes went wide at the sudden answer and spun around only to see something horrible, something that could make even the most robust male fall to his knees…

He saw himself, the dark version of himself with completely black Scleras and lurid white Irises, that leering into his body, no… his soul, that invaluable part of him that made up who he was and that what this Doppelgänger was looking into, with his twisted, black grinned smile.

"W-who… who are you? Why do you look like me?" Xiwang asked, not able to look away from his own discolored eyes. The Doppelgänger just continued to stare Xiwang, its grin never fading, never ceasing.

"'Who am I?' you ask? That a pretty stupid question for such an obvious answer. I'm you dumbass." The Doppelgänger replied, still grinning.

"Me? What do you mean? I'm me, not you!" Xiwang replied back with some force.

The Doppelgänger chuckled at the feline. "Ha, that's funny, considering we share the face. You gotta admit though, we are pretty handsome don't you think?" he asked while placing himself in the lotus position.

"I don't know who you are, or what you want, all _**I**_ want is to leave this place." Xiwang stated, growing more irritated with this imposter.

"Awww, you plan on leaving already? But you just got here and we were really starting bonding y'know. Me, Myself and I. AHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" The Doppelgänger cackled out while holding his sides. Xiwang only growled at the figure, annoyed at that dammed laugh of his.

"Oh, what's this? You CAN growl can like an ACTUAL tiger? Awww, that's so cute. The wittle kitty is grwowling, that's so precious. I guess you really are taking after that striped Bitch, aren't ya?" he asked, Xiwang stopped his growling and could only just stare wide eyed at the mirror version of him. "Welp, not that it'll matter anyways. Soon, you gonna awaken and everything gonna disappear…" The Doppelgänger said in a sing song voice.

"What? Disappear!" Xiwang exclaimed not believing what he just heard.

"That's what I just said. What, you didn't know?" he asked. No answer from Xiwang said it all. "You really didn't know? You seriously didn't know? Seriously? Oh man! How much more of an IDIOT can you possibly be? How could you not know of the origins of your birth?" said the Doppelgänger.

"M-my birth?" Xiwang stuttered out.

"Holy Shit, do you even understand WORDS? Yes! Your birth! Everything and everyone born in this world has a purpose for doing something. Who the hell couldn't know about their own destiny. Gosh… Hm. well, since you have amnesia from your Lacunar Episode and what not, guess I can't blame you for that, but damn, the shock you got from that, Ah, just magnificent. Anyway, enough talking, I'll share with you a bit of your past memory, but just a little, Can't let you break so soon all over again, now do we?" the Doppelgänger asked.

"Memory, what memory?" Xiwang asked while leaning back a bit.

"Just lean back relax, and enjoy ALL the CRIMSON RED you're about to see!" The Doppelgänger said, while snapping his fingers. On cue, a flash passed Xiwang's eyes and they fell closed. After another second passed, his eyes opened only to see a horrifying image, which made his head throb deeply.

What he saw, was an entire street… painted in red.

And it wasn't an ordinary red. Oh no.

It was Crimson, and it was shining from the twilight sunrays, as if to say the day was over and done. But what made him know what this was, was the smell. The deep, overpowering, nearly overwhelming smell of metallic flooded his olfactory sense.

"Is… is this… B-b… Blood?" he struggled out to say, already know the answer. What else caught his attention, were the amount of bodies that were plastered all across. Not only that, he could easily distinguish them. There were bodies of men, women, elderlies and even… children. They all were left in the street, most were split in half , and others were impaled with wood and or metal, even most of the bodies' eyes were open wide, as were the mouths, the look of anguish and pain, clearly plastered on them.

"What is this, what happened here?" Xiwang shouted at the blood stained street, only to hear his echo that bounced off the pools and puddles of still fresh blood.

"How did this happen…" Xiwang asked, while crouching down, holding his aching head. "Why did this happen…" he asked his ruby colored reflection., only to receive no answer. As he was still staring at himself, the distant sound *splat* immediately caught his attention and he looked up, only to go wide eyed and fall back on to his backside and make his mouth go wide in physical, mental and tangible fear.

For the animal he saw that caused all this carnage and havoc was non-other than…

Himself carrying a sword that was stained and glowing melancholically from the reflection of the sea of crimson that lay before it

Without a single doubt running through his mind, he could easily tell that himself.

The height, the ears, the exact stripe pattern, and even the eyes, they were exactly the same, but the thing about the eyes, they weren't like his.

They were hollow, empty, devoid of any trace of emotion, solely focused on stay ahead, not even straying for a second.

"That… that can't… can't… that can't be me! That isn't me!" the cub shouted in anguish.

Just then his own self stopped and raised his head to the sky, while speaking in monotone that was callous, livid and dripping with pure, unfiltered hatred.

"EVERYTHING… EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD… EVEN THE GODS IN THE HEAVENS… DISAPPEAR!"

And that was that. Xiwang, had passed out, falling back into the blackness.

"Hey there Me, welcome back. How was that nice preview of your forgotten memory?" the Doppelgänger asked, still grinning.

"The moment you showed me, what was that? Why did you show me that?" Xiwang demanded with his fists clenched and teeth bared.

"Oh, you poor little boy. I would tell you, but would ruin the entire fun that going to happen soon, and you I don't like spoilers… Oops! My mistake. WE don't like spoilers don't we?" he asked while once again, cackling loudly. Xiwang could say nothing, but only growl in hatred for this faker. "Well, now that I've shown you that special preview, why don't you and me get-"

"Xiwang!" called out a voice, which was the key that broke him out of his hate. "Xiwang, hey, can you hear me? Wake up!"

"Is that…Po?" Xiwang asked while looking above him, seeing a ray of light shine down on him, acting as a guide to lead him out of the Darkness.

"Damn, and just when we getting to know each other so well and bonding and stuff. Oh well, nothing I can do for now, so go on little pussycat, run back to your pathetic friends. I've done my part, all that's left is to let the chips fall where they may. So enjoy your 'set' life for now, because all that is going to change soon!" The Doppelgänger stated before fading into the Darkness with a haunting grin, before that too, disappeared. Ignoring what was said to him, he began to levitate up toward the light was beckoning him.

"You'd best enjoy yourself Me, soon the fun is going to begin." Echoed the voice.

"Xiwang, come man, wake up!" Po begged while looking over the child's unmoving body, desperately wanting to see his little buddy animated like before.

"Panda, you must calm yourself. Urgently shouting for him to awaken will do you no good. I am sure that you have seen his medical report; he is fine, completely healthy. You need to relax." Shifu advised. He was sitting in the lotus position with his back to his students that were gathered in the same room as Po and Shifu.

"I know that! But still…!" Po trailed off, watching the chest of the tiger cub rising and slowly falling, only to repeat in an endless cycle of repetition. "I'm just really worried Shifu…" Po said.

"Your reaction to Xiwang's still slumber is understandable. But you must retain your inner peace and maintain your patience." Shifu advised once more, still remaining in the same position. Po just bit his bottom lip in angst while looking upon the boy. His attention was diverted when a warm paw placed itself upon his shoulder. He looked over to see whose paw it belonged to, but he had a pretty good guess who it was, considering that there were only three other mammals in the same room as him. He looked to see that the striped paw belonged to Tigress, who was showing a face of concern for both Po and Xiwang's wellbeing. Po just smiled and placed his paw on hers, warm from their individual bodies meeting at the one point.

"Don't worry Po, I'm sure he'll wake up soon enough." The feline encouraged.

"Yeah, I know, just wished he'd hurry up." Po replied while turning to watch over the cub.

"Chill out man, He'll be up before you know. So settle down man. Now, getting back on topic, before the stripes here passed out, didn't what he said creepy anybody else out?" Mantis asked.

"What, you mean when he said 'If the World dies, so will I?' yeah, I found that disturbing." Crane chipped in.

"So did I. why would Xiwang say those words, that was very unlike him." Viper stated.

"That was a complete turn-around from the boy we know him as." Monkey said.

"Should we confront him about it?" Crane asked. Just as the others, aside from Po, were agreeing, this time Shifu spoke up; his voice cleared, regal and completely set on his decision.

"Students; none of you will not approach the boy with that type of question or what he said, and that is Final." the Red Panda Master confirmed for all of them. "Matters such as that, are best left to him and when he is ready to talk with us about it. You are NOT to confront him about it, is that clear?" Shifu asked while turning the upper half of his body to his students who were all looking at him.

"Yes Master." They all replied.

"Good, now, no more of that talk. Think of simpler things to past the time. That, or you can train, which ever you decided." Shifu said before going back to his meditation.

"Shifu's right, we should put it out of our minds." Mantis pointed out. "but it was still creepy."

"Yeah I know, never would of thought I would hear those kinds of words come from his mouth." Monkey said.

"the question is WHY he said it." Crane added. Everyone in the room couldn't answer; they just speculated and formulated their own opinions. Po didn't participate; he continued to keep watch over Xiwang. "that aside, does anyone know what Līmīng and Qīānxī are doing?" he asked.

"They're in their room, sleeping. I mean, it is pretty late." Po spoke up this time, still not averting his attention from the tiger cub.

"Yeah, it's nearly midnight. Why are still up anyway?" Tigress asked.

"Who knows, we have the day off tomorrow, so it doesn't matter." Mantis stated. "So what you guys going to do?" he asked. with that question out in the open, they all began talking about their plans. Little did they know, that cub resting on the map twitched a little and groaned out, while opening his closed eyes.

"Xiwang!" Po called out while getting up to rest on his knees, slightly leaning over him. "you're awake!"

The cub groaned once more while picking himself and rubbing his eyes open. "Hey guys… what's up?" he asked groggily, slowly opening his eyes, sleep still residing there.

"You tell us man, you've been out like a light for a while now. How you feeling?" Monkey asked.

"Much better, thank you. What about the rest of you guys?" the cub asked, his eyes now fully open and looking the others that gathered around his bedside.

"We're fine, as we always are." Tigress said while petting his head gently, smiling softly. The others were agreeing with her, smiles were all on their faces.

"That's good…" he placed a paw to his hand and shook his head lightly. "Wow, I felt like I was sleeping forever. How long was I out?" he asked while looking at Po.

"Well that's no surprise. Xi, you've been out for the last five days since you began your training with the dummy." Po said.

"F-five days? Oh man, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to slack off, I promise, it'll never happen again, I swear!" the cub said frantically, while trying to get out of bed, but Po just gently pressed on his should, pushing him back down.

"Xi, it's okay, you don't need to rush. You just woke up from your five day slumber. It's best to not try to get up right away, besides, its night time anyways." Po said while directing the cub eyes to the window, showing him the starry night sky. The cub calmed down a bit, was still worried that he might have upset Shifu.

"But… won't Shifu be angry with me?" he asked.

"You have nothing to worry about young one," Shifu said while walking over to the cub, looking directly at him with warm smile.

"Master Shifu! I'm so sorry I stayed in bed longer than I should have, I'll get right to training right away first thing in the morning, I swear." The cub said while bowing to the Grandmaster.

"I commend your enthusiasm on wanting to better yourself young one, but tomorrow, this is no need. You all have a day off. Yes Xiwang, even you." Shifu said with a smile of his own.

"Is that okay? I mean, like Po said, I was out for five days." The cub replied.

"I assure you it's quite alright." Shifu said while looking at him.

"Okay, if you say so." The cub replied while smiling.

"Alright! Now that the kid is among the living once more. Let's get this guy something to eat, you've gotta be starving man!" Mantis said while hopping on the boy's mat.

"Oh, I'm not that hungry-" but his stomach answered for him with a very loud growl of hunger, demanding that it be fed, right now. "Okay, I guess I am kinda hungry…" Xiwang said with a small chuckling following afterwards.

"You got it buddy. One bowl of Secret Noodle Soup, coming right up!" Po said while getting up, as were the others. But Shifu was against this plan, not to be mean, but rather, to talk to Po in private.

"I am sorry Panda, but you will not be able to cook for Xiwang tonight. Rather, Tigress will be in your place to make his meal." Shifu declared while getting up, his tail twitching a bit, shaking off whatever dust bunnies had attached themselves to his fluffy appendage.

"What, but Shifu why?" Po asked, completely off guard that Shifu would say that.

"To be honest Panda, I wish to speak to you in private, for this is something that only concerns you and you alone, Now, I will be in the Hall of Warriors, I expect you to be there shortly. Do not keep me wait, Dragon Warrior." Shifu said while leaving out of the room, leaving his students behind to chat with one another.

"Aw man, five days of waiting for Xiwang, hoping to serve him noodles, gone downhill, oh well, I sure it won't take too long. So Tigress, I trust that you'll handle it?" Po asked.

"Of course Po, I can take care of things here, now go on and see what Shifu wants." Tigress said while shooing him away.

"Alright then," Po then looked to Xiwang, smiling. "As for you Xi, you go on and have a bowl of Tigress's cooking. Trust me, it's simply heaven." Po said, and with that, he was gone.

"Okay, Well Xiwang, what do you say some sweet dumplings?" Tigress asked while standing up, letting the cub pick himself up from the mat.

"Yes, that would be nice, thank you Master Tigress." Xiwang said while getting up and stretching body and limbs from their five day stasis.

"You're welcome little one. Now, would you like some lemon flavored tea?" she asked.

"Yes please." The cub said with a smile, completely ignoring what that 'Thing' said to him, and it was best that they didn't know about it.

"Alright, you all get some rest, I'll have him fed." Tigress said while taking hold of Xiwang's paw and led him out towards the kitchen, leaving them in the cub's room.

"Well, I don't about you guys, but I'm goin to bed, I'm takin Shifu's word and forgetting what happened early this week. Later." Mantis said while hopping of the room and towards his own. Not really seeing a reason to stay, they departed for their own rooms to get some well needed sleep.

*In the kitchen*

"You gave us quite a scare young man. Not waking up for five days, I don't think I've ever seen Po so freaked out before… well, except that one time when I had my arm impaled arm on the spiked club by accident. He wouldn't stop going on about it for a week." Tigress said while pouring the hot lemon into two cups, chuckling nostalgically. "honestly he can be such a baby at times, but I guess, that's what I like about him." Tigress added while picking up the two cups and walking over to the table where Xiwang was sitting and eating a bowl of dumplings in a rather… ravenous manner.

"Thank you Master Tigress," Xiwang said after swallowing the chewed food. He reached out and took the cup from her and took a gulp, letting out a refreshing 'Ahhh.' Not caring that it was still hot.

"You're welcome. So tell me," she said while taking a seat and taking a sip of her tea. "you were out for five days, what was it like? Did you see anything, did a memory of your past show itself to you?" she asked. The Tiger cub had a brief flash back to where he and his so-called 'himself' talked, that and the fact he saw a murderous memory of himself and the massacre before him. Deciding to keep that to himself, he wouldn't reveal it. He just found another family, and he didn't want to lose them too.

"N-no, nothing came to surface. I was having a pleasant dream of all of us, having a good time together. You and Po… and well…" He trailed off while looking to the side, smiling a small smile.

"What? What were we doing?" Tigress asked while lightly chuckling, her arms folded and resting on the table.

"you two were… were being really good parents to me and my new sisters." he answered, still looking off to the side.

"Is that how you view Po and I?" Tigress asked while placing her paw on top of his head. The tiger cub could only nod his affirmation. Tigress just looked at him and offered a smile that was very sweet, motherly in fact. "Is that so, well, would you be alright If I referred you as my son?" she asked.

Xiwang looked at her with wide eyes and just nodded while getting up from his seat.

"Very well. I will be your mother." Tigress said with her new, motherly smile, holding her arms open for him. Not waiting a second more, he rested his head into her bosom and just stood there, feeling her warm pass onto him, making him feel safe, at home, protected… and loved in the way a mother loves her child. Tigress brought her paws to rest on his back and completed the warm embrace. She didn't know whether if it was instinctual or something that was there and she never even knew about, but what she did know, was that her motherly feeling for this boy was real. No doubt about it.

"Xiwang, listen to me when I say this, and listen well. You are not alone anymore, you have a new family now, so don't hesitate to tell us if anything is bothering you, alright Wō xiǎo de xuě yòu zǎi(My little snow cub)?" Tigress asked while pushing back a bit so she could look at him.

"Yes, I promise… Mama." Xiwang said aloud with a smile, before going back to hugging her. the word 'Mama' sent a new warm feeling through her and Tigress was very fond of this feeling. She embraced him once more and petted the top of his head, nuzzling him as well.

"Alright, now finish up your meal so we can get you to bed. We still need to get you some new clothes." Tigress ordered gently while lightly patting him on the head.

"Okay, Mama." Xiwang replied while taking his seat and preceded finish his platter. Tigress watched on in content silence, while thinking how Po would react to him calling her Mama.

*In the Hall of Warriors*

Shifu was standing at the edge of the Jade Palace Moon Pool, watching his reflection with a calm, regal posture and stone faced look on his face, his reflection vice versa. He was briefly thinking back about a week ago, the point where all this started. The Gōngmīng Gāng sword, Po's reaction to the sword, Xiwang's personality shift, and those haunting words that Xiwang said, they just sent chills down his aged spine.

"'If the world dies, so will I'? Just what does that mean?" Shifu asked his reflection, hoping for an answer from himself…

But nothing came.

Just the silence of the Hall was his only answer, but that changed when a single footstep reverberated throughout the entire room. Shifu's ear twitched to the main source that came from the left. He didn't need to turn his eyes; he already knew who was there. "Ah, Po, glad to to see that you made it." Shifu said while still watching the Moon Pool, arms behind his back, gripping onto what feel like a long weapon of a sort. By the weight, texture and length of it, that was a pretty safe bet. "I trust you had no difficulty getting here?" the Grandmaster asked.

"It was easy getting here, even though you know I wanted to be the first to cook something for Xiwang when he woke up." Po answered; a bit of bitterness laced in his speech.

"I apologize for pulling you away from the boy, but there is something that I wish to speak with about, something important." Shifu said while now briefly turning this attention to the wall of scrolls that were beneath the Dragon of the Moon Pool and then turning his back and walked over the Sword of Heroes that was slightly glowing and resting on its pedestal. "Tell me Po," Shifu started while stopping directly in front of the Sword, seeing his aged reflection look back at him. "How do you know about the Sword of Heroes?" He asked.

"Oh, that's easy," Po replied while walking over to Shifu. "The Sword of Heroes was supposedly a gift from the Gods to mortals, for the purpose of vanquishing evil. The power it contains can slay over a hoard of ten thousand demons from the Wu Shan Mountain in one slash, and the fact that it's so sharp, you can cut yourself from just barley touching it." The panda said, share whatever wisdom he had about the sword with his Master.

"That is correct Panda, very good. Now tell me, what do you know about the Gōngmīng Gāng sword?" Shifu asked while moving his arms from behind his back, and showing the sheathed sword to the panda that was now looking down in Shifu's paws.

"What do I know of the Gōngmīng Gāng sword, well there's not much to know about it? From what I've read, all that's known about it is that it's a really powerful artifact and weapon, but that's all. The history behind it was lost. Why do you ask?" Po questioned.

"I just wanted to test your cognitive ability of the subject, and once again, you surprise me, excellent work," Shifu praised while still keeping his eyes on the Sword of Heroes. "Po, roughly about a week ago, when we were watching the children decide what styles they would choose for themselves, and something caught my attention." Shifu said.

"Really, what happened? It must have been really important if it could get your attention that quickly." Po said.

"Oh, it did. Po, when it was Xiwang's turn to show us his level of aptitude, he drew his sword," Shifu said while placing his paw on the handle of the sword, grasping it firmly and perfectly. "And strangely, while no one else was paying attention, you reacted to this sword being pulled by him. Can you explain that?" Shifu asked, channeling strength to his paw gripping the handle.

"Well, all I remember from then was feeling an incredible amount of pain just surge from my arms. The pain was like nothing I've ever felt before, and I don't want to feel that kind of feeling ever again." Po answered, still looking at his Master.

"I had a feeling that you two were connected, but I still had my doubts about the possibility of that being true… until I drew the sword to see for myself." Shifu said.

"Wait a second, you pulled the sword? Shifu, you knew how my body reacts to it and still pulled it?" Po asked in a frantic manner.

"Yes." The red panda answered simply.

"Why then?" Po asked, trying not to shout.

"I shall tell you why Dragon Warrior. During the last five days, I've had the Gōngmīng Gāng sword in my possession, making sure that neither you nor the five would take hold of it, I was concerned of what would happened if either of you drew it from its sheath, I could not let that happen. In a way, you could say I was the temporal guardian, but back to the main topic. When you were in Xiwang's room looking over him, I had the sword with me. Since you seemed to have a reaction to it, when the boy used it, I decided to test my theory to see if you would react to the same sensation if someone else released the blade. To my expected results, I was wrong. When I did, you didn't react, like so," Shifu stated while pulling sword for its holding sheath, the sound of a 'shnk' was clearly heard by the two of them and as Shifu expected, Po was not in pain, not even remotely feeling a dull pain, much to his relief. "You see Dragon Warrior, When others pull the sword free, you are not affected, which is odd." Shifu said.

"Odd, how is that odd?" Po asked, not exactly sure of what to make of this.

"I have my theories as to why this is what it is," Shifu said with a small smile. "but before we get to that, there's something I'd like to prove."

"What is it?" Po asked simply

"Po, I need you to take hold of this sword, if I am right, I shall tell you the history about this weapon, wisdom that Oogway has passed to me when I was in my late adolescent years proceeding to enter the stage of being a young adult. Wisdom and history about the sword that Oogway had took and kept hidden from the world in an attempt to minimize the possibility of massive amounts of bloodshed that would come from looking for the sword." Shifu said.

"So much wisdom for something like this… Alright, I'll do it." Po answered firmly.

"you will? Po, this is your only opportunity leave this alone. Once I tell you the history about this weapon, there is no returning to your previous state of ignorance and miniscule knowledge about the Gōngmīng Gāng sword. Are you absolutely and resolutely sure about absorbing this kind of evil Po?" Shifu asked once more, his tone, callous and cynically serious. The tension in the room was clearly present and hanging over the both of them , but that didn't deter the jovial panda one bit, no, one ounce!

"c'mon Shifu, you should me by now. I'm the defeater of foes, defender of friends, protector of the weak, the upholder of justice and most importantly, the guy who annoys you. I'm the Dragon Warrior. If I can handle croc bandits, a mechanical mad man, a moose with anger management issue and some prissy felines with parasols, then I can certainly handle this." Po stated confidently. Shifu just looked at the panda with an incredulous look of shock, but gave into his softer side, he smirked and let out a laugh, a hearty laugh, one that had been kept locked up for years of his life, but came out instantly from a just a few words from the Panda. Po was right, he's been with Po long enough to know that when he said something with that kind of positivity in his voice, he was serious, perhaps even more than himself.

"you are right Panda, you are right. I should have known that you, of all people, would have the courage to stand up to something like this. I apologize for underestimating you." Shifu said with a smile.

"It's no problem. Now, let's see that sword has to give." Po said while holding his paws out for it.

"Yes, here you are. Hold on to it for a bit and tell me what you see." Shifu said while placing the sword onto his open paws.

Once the sword was resting in his paws, he gripped the cool metal, letting the feel of it run through his body, but so did something else. Once he gripped it, like a reaction, the sword began to glow a faint and pale blue and a massive flood of Negative and Anathema feelings came rushing into Po with absolutely no warning. Hatred and sorrow was exhuming deeply from the blade itself and Po was involuntary made the bridge that connected its aura to his mind and emotions and it was clearly affecting him in on a capacious scale. So many feelings of pure hatred were going off in his head like loud bells that only he could hear.

And each word and words haunted him.

'S-so many feelings of malice… make it stop… make it stop!' Po thought to himself, but the words and sentences of ill-intent and sadness just kept pouring in, no matter how much he tried to block them out.

"Sadness!"

"Anger!"

"Despair!"

"I hope you die…!"

"Misery!"

"Envy!"

"It's not fair!"

"Destruction!"

"Everything Disappear!"

" Kill me… please!"

"Die!"

"Let's burn together!"

"Don't you love me anymore?"

"I'm worthless…"

"I don't want to live anymore…"

"Go away!"

"Disgusting!"

"I'll kill you!"

"I hate this world!"

"I don't need anything!"

"You're worthless!"

"Death!"

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"fuck you!"

"Why me…!"

"Mommy, daddy… where are you… why'd did you leave me?"

"I don't want to be alone!"

"Don't leave me!"

"NO!"

"EVERYTHING, JUST DIE!"

"LIAR!"

"I HATE YOU!"

At that point, Po had enough of what he was hearing. "STOP IT!" he shouted while tossing the sword away from him, it flew a bit of ways from him, but let out a clattering sound as his the floor a few times and spinning around before stopping and resting on the cold and uncaring floor. At the same time, Po had fell to his knees and let the upper half of his body leaned forward and his paws were resting on the same cold floor, and he was crying tears of sorrow and regret, the huge water droplets felt to the floor and splashed on impact, little sounds of 'plop, plop, plop' were clearly heard by Shifu. Never, in all his life had Po, felt tangible sadness come from an inanimate object that was used to defend and to kill. This was the first time he felt scare of something that a unique history, like the other objects in the Hall of Warriors, but that… that… THING was something else, but he could easily tell what it was.

Intangible despair given a physical form.

Shifu had a feeling that this would happen, and already he was regretting it.

"Po, are you alright?" Shifu asked while coming over to him and kneeling to see that the panda was still shaken up from what he felt. Po took a few sniffs and proceeded to rub the tears that stained his face. He stopped the tears, but he was still feeling the effects.

"Yes Master, I-I'm fine, It just took me by surprise is all, no big deal." Po answered, trying to let go of a smile, only succeeding in putting on a half one.

"Good, you are alright. Forgive me Po, if I had known something like this would have happened, I never would've agree to this." Shifu replied, ears lowered a bit.

"It's okay Shifu, I chose this path, and it's not your fault." Po replied while looking at his Master. "there's nothing for you to worry about," Po said. "But Master Shifu, what… what is that thing?" Po asked while looking at the stationed sword on the ground, a few feet away from him.

"Ah Po, now that you know, I can reveal the history of the Gōngmīng Gāng sword that Oogway left behind," Shifu said while getting up and walked over to the sword. "Po, do you know how the Sword of Heroes was forged?" the Grandmaster asked while picking up the sword and sheathed it once again.

"No, no I don't." Po answered while standing back up.

"It is alright that you didn't know. Originally Dragon Warrior," Shifu started as he walked over to the pedestal with the Sword of Heroes. "Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, roughly around eight hundred, far before my time of existence started, China was under the wrath a fiend named Hundun; a faceless being that had terrorized the ancestors of this land. He was a ruthless and merciless entity that had an entire army of demons in his control that resided in one area of China, which you already know.

"The Wu Shan Mountain… you mean they had a leader?" Po had asked; his eyes were wide from the new piece of information.

"That is correct Dragon Warrior; they were not with a leader. Now you know the Origin behind Hundun; he was and still is the primordial being of the original and central chaos." Shifu said calmly.

"Wait, HE'S the source of chaos, how?" Po asked in a shocked manner.

"There is no 'how' or 'why' to who he is, all that we know is that he is what he is. We also know that he's been around since China was created." Shifu responded. "As time passed, the people of China grew tired of his rule, but what could they do? They did not have the power to reject Hundun and his forces and the Gods were bound by the Universal Rule, so to put it bluntly, there was nothing that could be done… until as fate would have it, there was one individual who had enough of Hundun's rule and decided that his region was over." Shifu said.

"Who was the guy?" Po asked.

"The famous sword crafter name's was Sheng Li." Shifu told.

"Sheng Li? Nope, never heard of him." Po admitted, causing Shifu to chuckle.

"That is understandable; all traces of history linking to the Gōngmīng Gāng sword were kept secret from the land. But yes, he was the creator of the Sword of Heroes." Shifu added.

"Whoa, so he created the sword? That's Awesome!" Po stated, trying to visualize what the guy looked like.

"Yes Po, because of his efforts, that would indeed make him 'Awesome'," Shifu said with a small chuckle. "Now, do you know why it's called the sword is called 'The Sword of Heroes'?" Shifu asked.

"Wait, there's more?" Po asked, for he was more surprised than annoyed.

"Much more Panda," Shifu replied with a smirk. "Do you know of the 'Urn of Whispering Warriors'?" the grandmaster asked.

"Yeah, they were the voices of the past. What, they played a part in this too?" Po asked.

"That's right Po, on the surface, everyone knows them as warriors, but going further into history, they played the very crucial part with the Sword of Heroes. You see Dragon Warrior, the souls in the urn," Shifu said while walking over to the urn that was also resting on a pedestal, with Po following behind. "These were the souls that help imbued the Sword of Heroes with energy that was used to slay the ten million demons of the Wu Shan Mountain and ultimately, brought down Hundun." Shifu said.

"Wait a minute, Shifu, are you saying that-" Po started.

"Yes Po, whenever the Sword of Heroes was used by an individual with a pure or courageous heart, they are able to bring out the power that resides in that sword." Shifu said.

"But wait, how did they manage to do that, weren't they ordinary people?" Po asked; still find all this hard to believe.

"On the surface, that is what everyone was told, but beneath that, they were actually the One Thousand Holy Taoists." Shifu said.

"One Thousand Holy Taoists… wait; they're the souls that are in the urn? No Way!" Po exclaimed.

"Yes Po, it is. But that is the truth, and how is that truth you ask? There is a simple answer for that. Oogway and Sheng Li were the two that stood beside one another and fought against Hundun and his army, just the two of them, side by side. Two versus Ten Million demons and One fiend. It was truly an arduous battle for the two of them that went on for exactly one month, day after day after day of fighting, there was hardly any time to rest in between. At one point, Sheng Li's resolve was wavering, but thanks to Oogway's encouragement and support, they continued to fight, but at the end, they succeeded. They had wiped out an entire army of demons and had done away with Hundun and peace had settled upon China for the first time." Shifu concluded, turning to face Po, who was now sitting on the ground with his mouth wide open, as were his eyes. "I take it that this something that was completely unknown to you?" he asked with a small smirk.

"Oogway; creator of Kung Fu, fought off an army of demons with the odds stacked against him? Wow… just… wow," Po said trying to absorb the knowledge that he was fed. "My mind has been blown." He added. Shifu just chuckled at the Panda, not really knowing what to say at this point. "but wait, If the Taoists offered their power to the Sword of Heroes, what about them… did they?" Po trailed. Shifu took a breath and continued.

"Po, they were aware of the consequences of giving up their powers, but regardless, they did it for the greater good. And as resulted, they did indeed die, but, they chose to stay on the mortal plain, which is still a mystery to me." Shifu added.

"Wow, so much has happened. But Master, what does any of that have to do with the Gōngmīng Gāng sword?" Po asked.

"Because Po, Sheng Li was the one who created the Gōngmīng Gāng sword." Shifu stated bluntly, dropping the bomb on Po; making his jaw just drop. No words were exchanged between the two, until Po was the first to speak up.

"Shifu, you know I'm not one to use foul language, so pardon my French when I say this, but WHAT. THE. FUCK?" Po shouted out. "He's the one to create such a thing, what the hell was he thinking?" the panda added.

"It wasn't intentional Po. Sheng Li, he was tricked into making this bastard sword." Shifu said simply, stopping Po's rant.

"what do mean?" Po asked simply.

"Exactly what I said. Sheng Li was tricked into forging this sword, but the end results were grave, unexpected but unwanted." Shifu said grimly.

"W-what happened to Sheng Li?" Po asked, feeling as though he already knew the answer.

"He…" Shifu started. "He was the swords' first victim. He was killed by his very own creation. Oh the bitter *situational irony" Shifu said, (A/N: * Situational Irony - The disparity of intention and result: when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect. Being "shot with one's own gun", or "hoisted with one's own petard")

"Oh man, that's… that's horrible… but wait!" Po said, a sudden realization hitting him smack across the head. "If the Gōngmīng Gāng sword was created by Sheng Li, wouldn't that make the…?" Po started.

"It's just as you think Dragon Warrior. The Gōngmīng Gāng sword and Sword of Heroes brothers by creation." Shifu said. Po just looked stupefied when he was told that. He stood corrected; NOW Shifu dropped the bomb on him like that and Po could only just look at his master in a bewildered state, trying his best not to just fall down.

"T-they… they're brothers… Oh man… but five days ago, that thing returns to the Jade Palace? This can't be just random coincidence, it just can't be." Po said, trying to sum up what he formulated in his head.

"As Oogway would say Po; there ARE no accidents. So this was meant to happen, like it or not." Shifu said; shutting down any hope Po had for trying to pin this on something else.

"If that's true, then what does it mean?" Po asked.

"I wish I knew more on that subject. But what I do know is that the time has for you to choose Po." Shifu said.

"Choose, what do you mean Shifu, what mean I have to choose?" Po asked, not liking where this was going.

"Po, I cannot say for certain that something is meant to happen in the coming days, but for the Gōngmīng Gāng sword and Sword of Heroes to be unintentionally brought to the same place, something is not right, which is why I want to take precaution," Shifu said while placing the sword beside Urn and walked over to the Moon Pool, only to walk to the scrolls that were in the back, but rather being interested in the scrolls, he was looking upon the floor as if to find something that could be of use.

"Shifu, what are you looking for?" Po asked as he walked over to where the Grandmaster was.

"Something that Oogway prepare for something like this," Shifu said, now on his knees, feeling along the ground with his empty paw. Po said nothing and just watched. "I know that it is here, Oogway showed me once but where… Ah! Found it." Shifu announced when he found what it was that he was seeking. An indention that had the same color as the rest of the floor, making it well hidden.

"that's it, a hole in the ground, that's what you were looking for?" Po asked in a disapproving tone of voice.

"you may think that is all, but there is much more Po, just watch." Shifu said while standing up at full height. Taking position, he firmly grasped the staff he had him the entire time and raised it up so that it was adjacently above him. Po was still quite and watched, wondering what would happen next. With a quick and forceful motion downward, the butt of the staff entered the indention on the floor sounding off an audible click that was easily heard. Just as soon as the click went off, Shifu twisted the staff, making another click go off. With that done, Shifu stood back and the staff was perfectly rigid, not slanting in the least. Shifu had an emotionless face, but Po on the other paw, he was still wondering what those two clicks were.

"Uh Shifu, not being one to ask the obvious, but uh, what were those two clicks?" Po asked.

"You will see soon enough after this, Dragon Warrior" Shifu answered while hopping onto the open crevice, standing with perfect balance. He reached into area containing old and dusty scrolls of the past. His arms went in deeper, as if to feel for something, which he did, He felt another indention deep in back of the space, using two fingers, he pressed in and deeper until he felt a rough spot. Using a bit of force, he pressed that spot too and pulled back, just in time to hear a choir of clicks and snaps going back and forth until they abruptly stopped. Shifu placed one of his paws behind his back while the other used the long sleeve to cover his nose and mouth, blocking out the dust while keeping an expressionless face, whereas Po was somewhat freaking about what he was seeing, the center of the wall receded backwards, dust arising from the ground and filling the air as it split in two going to the left and right completely revealing what was beneath it.

Once the smoked cleared, it revealed a staircase that headed down past the wall of scrolls. Po was beyond speechless, he could only stare in utter shock at what he saw before him. This was nuts, completely and totally nuts!

"Well, now that the pathway is open, let us proceed. This way Dragon Warrior." Shifu said while hopping off the staff and pulled from the ground, and started walking ahead.

"Wait!" Po called out, stopping Shifu in his tracks.

"Yes Dragon Warrior, what is it?" Shifu asked while turning to look at Po, who was still standing there.

"Shifu, I've been here many times, and during the past year I've been here, nothing like this was here before, what's going on?" Po asked.

"As I said before Dragon Warrior, know that you have acquired knowledge of the Gōngmīng Gāng sword, you are to learn of this room that we are heading towards." Shifu said.

"And the name of the room is…" Po asked. Shifu just chuckled and continued to walk down the stairs.

"Come Po, you'll see." Shifu instructed. Po, just groaned and followed closely behind Shifu, who had his behind his back, and the staff in paw. As the two made their way down the narrow pathway, they were being guided by the light of lanterns that only seemed go on further and deeper into the darkness before them. Neither of them said anything at the moment, only the sound of their footfalls echoed of each step. This kept going on until Shifu was the one to break the silence.

"You never fail to surprise me, Dragon Warrior," Shifu started. "you are handling yourself very well after taking all this new found information in. Normally, I would expect that you would be having some sort of panic attack or trying to run away, but instead, here you are. I am greatly impressed." Shifu said.

"Well Shifu, what do you expect, you blasted me with all this new info so fast, I haven't been given a chance to process my emotions at all." Po replied casually.

"Yes, that is a first, but nevertheless, you have shown stalwart composure. I commend you." The red panda replied.

After a bit of walking, they were approaching a source of light from the end of the tunnel. Po was the first to let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally! Ii felt we were walking for hours." Po said.

"that is what it FELT like Panda, not how long it actually took. But more on that later. Po, since you are new here, you may take the first step inside." Shifu said while standing at the side of the entrance, granting Po leeway to the inner sanctum. Taking Shifu's word for it, he walks in ahead of Shifu, only to have is eyes go absolutely wide eyed once he was in the room.

Walls upon walls of Scrolls loomed overhead, so many scrolls that some spaces were overflowing with them, artifacts placed in various spots, they weren't like the kind he had seen in the Hall of Warriors and pictures of people, people that he had never seen before! It was all so new, so fresh(not really), so… so…

"Awesome?" Shifu asked while walking up behind Po with a knowing smile on his face.

"Shifu, where are we? What IS this place?" Po asked, still looking around the wide room.

"Po, I welcome you to the home of sacred scrolls, scrolls that been here even before Oogway was born… The Hollow of Inviolable Annals." Shifu said proudly.

"The Hollow of Inviolable Annals… wow… THIS… IS… AWESOME!" Po exclaimed happily, making Shifu chuckle to himself. "I had no idea this place even existed, and under the Hall of Warriors no less!"

"Yes Po, this place is secret and it has been this way. Why else do you think Junjie wanted to be the Grandmaster of the Jade Palace?" Shifu asked. Po's amazement grounded to a halt and he just looked at Shifu like he grown three heads.

"Whoa, wha- whoa, di- what?" Po stumbled out, shaking his head at what he just heard. (Egoraptor FTW)

"that is exactly why he wishes to be the ruler of the Jade Palace." Shifu said simply.

"huh, I thought he had some kind of grudge back when you two were students of Oogway?"

"It is Po, but none of that matters right now. Now that you are bearing witness to place, you must sign your name in the chronicler. Shifu pointed out while walking over to what looked like a large scroll that was hanging on the wall. The upper part of the scroll was rolled up, inadvertently told him that there was more space. As he got closer, he realized that there were names. They were names, but names he didn't know at all. He decided to read a few of them out loud as he went down the list.

"Let's see who we got. We have… Huang Fu Jiao, Ju-Long Xiong, Li-Lian Gong, Xing-Fu Dai, Mei-Xing Wu and even… Oogway and you?" Po said while looking over to make sure that he read that right.

"That is correct Po, even though Oogway knew of this place, there was another that guarded this secret with him, as you can see, they were the previous protectors, all before me. You see Po, throughout time, since Kung Fu begun and was founded, there was always Furious Five, as I told you before. Those names on Chronicler are the names of at least one member of the previous Furious Five in the past, exactly one hundred years apart," Shifu said while looking over the list. "But you Po, you are the first Dragon Warrior to ever know about this part of the Jade Palace." Shifu said.

"Wait… I'm the first?" Po asked, finding this hard to believe.

"Well, we are facing a possible soon-to-be crisis, but either way, you are still the first, you should feel honored." Shifu added.

"I'm the first… wow! Wait, what about the other Dragon Warriors, what about them, none of them were chosen?" Po asked.

"No Po, there was no threat that was so great that the Dragon Warrior could handle, so there was no need. But after what happened five days ago, I am sure that you can fill in the rest. Shifu said.

"Yeah, I can. Po said.

"Very well, now Po, sign your name on the scroll here." Shifu said while directing Po to the area where a brush and ink bottle was sitting beside the scroll, an empty space that was beneath Shifu's full name.

"Okay, here I go," Po picked up the brush from the bottle with ink plastered to the tip. He did a light shake so none would drip and he gently placed the tip to the empty spot and began to write his name in fluent Chinese characters, while saying them out loud. "'Po Xiao Ping." Finishing up with a period at the end. Once done, he placed the brush back into the bottle and stepped back a bit, awaiting for was next, but as he was waiting, he noticed that the ink used to sign his name shone gold a brief second before going back to basic black one more.

"Good, it seems that you Po, are now part of the Chronicler's recognition. Very good, now, let us retrieve what you will need… Po, get away from there!" Shifu ordered as he saw Po heading over to a certain areas of scrolls.

"What, since I'm here, why not take a look at what the scrolls have to offer." He replied as he reached for one.

"I. SAID. NO! Now get away from there and approach me!" Shifu ordered. Po, stopped what he was going to do and immediately walked over to Shifu, like a well-trained student.

"What's the deal Shifu, you said I can I view any scroll I wanted in here.: Po said.

"you can, but I think that you should stay away from those until… you find another to view them with." Shifu answered hastily, letting out a cough on the end.

"If that's the case, can we see them together?" Po asked. Just as fast that question, in the blink of an eyes he was flipped over and on his back, letting out a groan of pain. "Dammit Shifu, what was that for?" he asked while sitting up.

"Po, do not be an idiot. Now, pick yourself up and let us proceed to the alter, what you will need is there." Shifu answered, his back to him.

"Fine, geez!" Po grumbled as he stood back up and followed Shifu over to the alter. When they approached, they could easily that scroll identically looked like the Dragon Scroll, but this one, it felt… different somehow. Po was examining it, but Shifu had a straight face, his arms behind his back as always. After just standing there for a few seconds, Po broke the silence. "Uh Shifu… that scroll, why does it look like the Dragon Scroll?" Po asked.

"Rather than ask questions, why not just pick it up instead, I will explain on the way back." Shifu instructed.

Shrugging his shoulders, Po just walked up to the alter and picked up the item, just like that.

"Well that was boring, I thought there was gonna be more, ah well. Alright Shifu, I got the scroll, now what?" Po asked.

"Simple Dragon Warrior, we depart this area for now, the next time you want to come here, you can do that of your own accord, with a special key," Shifu replied while walking over to a table, reaching for something, taking hold of it, and walking back over to Po. upon returning, he held out his paw. "Po this is key is in your care, you must NOT lose it, damage it, or show it to anyone other than me, is that clear?" he asked.

"Not even the Five?" Po asked.

"Not even the Five unless the Palace is no longer safe on the surface and we need to go into hiding, understand?" Shifu asked once more.

"O-okay, I won't tell the others. Still, it kinda sucks that they can't know of this." Po replied, accepting the key that Shifu was holding. It looked like a small version of Shifu's staff, but he didn't question it, he just excepted it and placed it in his pocket.

"It is a small price to pay, but eventually one of them will be allowed in here. But that time is not today. Now, let us depart, it is most likely one in the morning and I am tired." Shifu said while walking towards the stairs.

"Wait, one of the Furious Five is going to be accepted down here?" Po asked.

"As I said earlier, one the Furious five of every generation is chosen to be a protector of this place, alongside you and after I pass on." Shifu said.

"Shifu…" Po simply said.

"But that will not be for a long time, I still have to keep an eye on you after all." Shifu replied while looking back at Po with a smile. "Now let us return to surface." Shifu said.

"Yes sir." Po answered while following behind.

"Good, oh, and just between you and I, I will most likely pick Tigress to join alongside you, because as of late, she seems quite smitten with you, even though she hides it. What did you do, Did you give or do something to make her feel special?" he asked.

Po went a bit red in the face and just chuckled nervously. "Haha, ah Shifu, I was just being myself, as usual."

"Very good, keep up the good work." Shifu replied.

"S-sure, you got it." Po replied while ascending the stairs with Shifu.

After reaching the the top, Shifu repeated the same process only in reverse, closing the hallway to Hollow of Inviolable Annals in the same noisy fashion, before it looked like it did before Po made the discovery.

"well, that was a fun detour, now, let's crack this open and see what it has to offer." Po said, as he started to open up the scroll, but Shifu stopped him.

"Po, rather than do this now, how about you wait until brighter hours of the morning, when you have more energy?" Shifu asked. Po thought about it briefly for a second but agreed with his master, he too, was tired.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I need some sleep." Po answered with a yawn following. "Alright Master Shifu, see you later." Po said while leaving his Master behind.

"Rest up Dragon Warrior." Shifu said while watching his student depart. "you are going to need it."

Once Po was gone, Shifu walked over to where the Gōngmīng Gāng was still laying, and shudder ran up his spine. He picked it up walked over to the Moon Pool, dropped the sword into the water and let it sink to the bottom. "Hopefully some of the sacred properties of the water can wash away some of the evil in that abomination." Shifu said as he turned his back began to depart from the Hall of Warrior and to his chambers, leaving the area silent once again.

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**Chapter 4: Choices and Actions – Chapter End**

And with that, chapter 4 is completed.

Yeah folks, Things are going to more intense from here on out, so don't go loosin it just yet readers.

Also, a notification. The sacred scroll of earth ends on the fifth one and the Sacred scroll of Wind picks up in chapter six. So get ready. And with that said and done, see you all later.

And in case you are wondering: Gōngmīng Gāng – Resonating Light

R&R plz :)

And in the words of Foamy in song form to end this chapter:

*singing* It's the Humbugger Holiday, which means there's no cheer and you've over stayed you welcome merely by showing up… Go home. *singing*


	5. Ch 5 Decisive Paths and Harmonized power

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**Sacred Scroll: Diqiu – Final Scroll**

**Chapter 5: Decisive Paths and Harmonized Power**

**Quote(s): "Understand that the right to choose your path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility." – ****Oprah Winfrey**

"**Mastering others is Strength. Mastering yourself is True Power." – ****Lao Tzu**

A/N: The creativeness continues to grow! That's right readers, I'm still going strong and loving it, even though it's been a while and stuff. Anyways, here we are with the final scroll, right before the next one. Yep, things are gonna real from here on out, and you all, enjoy the ride.

Note: Okay guys, since this chapter is SUPER long, I know it's gonna take awhile for you all to read, and most likely, something is gonna come up and you have go somewhere and all that jazz. But don't worry; I have a solution for that. I've left Book marks for you guys to pick where you left off should you need to go somewhere and can't finish the chapter in time. Just read to the number book mark and leave, come back, and pick where you left off. Simple.

Note#2: Guys, listen, I love your reviews, and they keep me going and push me forwards to make these chapter and I thank you for that. But please, one sentenced reviews just aren't working like they use to. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you'd take your time to review and I thank you for that. But maybe you guess can leave a little more of a review, like three sentences, tell me how good I did, and offer a little positive criticism to help me out, heck even a few ideas would work too, just don't go too crazy with them XD (just kidding, go nuts)

Note#3: I plan to continue working on Spotted Lover and The Baby, coming up with ideas on how to keep it going. Feel free to share ideas.

Alright, I think that's it for the intro. Now, let's get to it readers! XD

Copyright: I do NOT own the big fluffy panda, cuz he's too awesome to own! :-3 Copyright pending demons… OH!

The later hours of the morning had finally come to the Jade Palace, and the residents of the building were awaking from their slumber, it was safe to say that the Palace servants received a full amount of sleeping from the entire night all the way to the morning. They had been notified the day prior, that the Five and Dragon Warrior would have the day off, thus, they too could relax. With the Furious Five, they were up late and most likely taking advantage of this day off, by staying in few a couple of more hours. It wasn't everyday they had the day off. As for the children in the Palace, it went without saying that they were were walking, thanks to the sunlight pouring into their rooms and landing gently and warmly on their face, telling them it was morning and it was time to awaken to the approaching day.

*In the twins' room*

Within the room, the twin panda girls were slowly but surely leaving the dreamscape and approaching the realm of conscious. Līmīng was the first of the two to wake with her sister Qīānxī following close behind. Sitting up and bathing in the light, Līmīng stretched her arms above her head and let out a grunt while some of her bones were cracking and popping back into place. She let out a long, loud yawn and looked over to her sister, seeing her do the same. The little sister reached over to her bedside table and took hold of the ruby colored lotus clip and proceeded to place her head fur in its traditional style; to right side of her head, and placing the clip there to hold it in place.

"Good morning sister," Līmīng greeted her twin once she finished.

"Mornin' sis," Qīānxī replied while doing the same thing as her sister, only placing the blue lotus clip on the crevice of her left ear. "How'd ya sleep?" she asked while placing her feet on the ground to face her younger twin, a smile on her face.

"I slept well, how about you sister?" Līmīng asked.

"Same as always, like a rock." Qīānxī replied.

"Yeah, you always do. Anyways, today is a new day. What do you want to do?" she asked, while getting up to stretch some more.

"Well, I was thinking of spending time Xiwang today since we didn't get much, not after what happened six days ago." The elder sister said. "Speaking of which, is he up yet?" she asked.

"I do not know, let me check if brother is up yet," Līmīng said while closing her eyes and began to concentrate on the target of her focus. Using her power of telepathy to find out if their brother was awake yet, to her surprise, not only was he up, but two others were awake as well.

"Well, is he?" Qīānxī asked.

"Brother is starting to wake up, but he's not the only one who is awake. Master Shifu and The Dragon Warrior are up too." Līmīng said.

"So that's three who are up huh? Well, let's wait for Xiwang to wake up fully; we didn't get a chance to get to know him better in the past six days and since Shifu gave us the day off, I say we take the chance." The older sister declared.

"that sounds like a good idea, but let's go wait outside his door for him and just walk in when he's fully awake, does that sound better?" asked Līmīng while standing up.

"Kinda creepy, but better than waiting till he's fully up, we're 'bout to go somewhere and he forgets something in the process and has to go back… yeah, let's wait outside." Qīānxī replied while getting up and out of bed, following her sister out of their room suite as soon as she was up. As soon as both of them were out of the room, they walked down to Xiwang's room which was a few doors down, but not too far. After the short walk, they were now outside of Xiwang's room, waiting for him to wake up completely.

*Inside Xiwang's room

**Bookmark #1** -

The young tiger cub was raising to the sun's rays, feeling refreshed after last night where he and Tigress were in the kitchen talking about fun stuff and sharing a little bit of each other's past, what they did for fun, what their dreams were, little things like that to help deepen the bond that biological mother and son would establish from birth onwards. Successfully, it worked, but they still had a long way to go, but they made headway for the connection to grow. For Tigress, it was still sinking in that she decided to accept Xiwang as her adoptive son and for he; his foster mother, never the less, thanks to some hidden maternal traits that were showing up in her, she was glad that she accepted it. Now that Xiwang thought about it, this was the first time that he slept and awoken really well, normally he would be plagued with periodical nightmares about his tragic past and murder of his family, but with Po and Tigress with him, along with the others, those kinds of horrors seemed so far away, like they couldn't reach him anymore, for that he was glad.

The cub was now stretching, making his muscles relax and getting his nerves back up and running after a good night's sleep, he was opening his eyes, though they were squinting to keep out the sun from just pouring in and harming him, but gradually let the rays shine in until his eyes were comfortable and fully open. Once that was completed, he looked around the room to see that it was indeed the morning.

"And so begins a new day." He said while getting up and did a few more stretches for the lower half of his body, feeling that today was going to be a really good day, but for some reason, he felt different this morning, he couldn't place his paw on it but that's how he felt. Now with that out of the way, the most basic, and common thought came to his mind as did it with every other denizen of the Valley of Peace,

"What am I gonna do today?" he asked himself.

Just as he was about to start thinking, a knock from behind him caught his attention and he swiveled his to his door and answered in a relaxed, yet somewhat gruff tone of voice, which was odd.

"Who is-" he stopped in midsentence to do a cough that forced its way out of his mouth. "Who is-," he coughed again, while placing his paw on his throat, rubbing the outside and rubbed it, trying message away the soreness. "Who is it?" he asked, finally getting out the question.

"It's your sisters; Qīānxī and I, may we come in?" asked Līmīng in a polite voice.

"Oh, yeah sure, come on in its open." He replied, this time his voice was a bit squeaky.

After being given permission to enter, that what the twin panda females did, they greeted him after opening the door connecting his room to the hallway. "Morning you two." He said; his voice still squeaky and few coughs were leaving his mouth.

"Mornin' stripes." Qīānxī greeted.

"Good morning brother," Līmīng followed up, smiling sweetly at him.

"Good morning, I trust that-" he coughed a bit before continuing. "That you had a good sleep?" he asked with his squeaky voice.

"Yeah we did, thank you for asking. Brother, are you alright this morning? Your voice is a tad squeaky today." Līmīng said.

"I feel fine this morning, really good. But, my voice is acting up a bit ever since I woke up not too long ago. You think something is wrong?" He asked.

"Sounds like it. Let's go see Master Shifu, maybe he knows what's wrong with you squeaky." Qīānxī teased lightly.

"Qīānxī, be nice to brother." Līmīng admonished, protecting her brother.

"Aw, I was just teasing him, that's all. By the way, Xi, where's your sword, don't you normally keep it with you?" Qīānxī asked.

Rather than being shocked by the question, he was rather calm about now knowing that it was gone, but that didn't stop him from looking around to find it.

"Maybe Master Shifu has it. Let's go ask him." Xiwang suggested while moving over to door. Just as his sisters were following him, Līmīng stopped and turned to Po's room which was right next to Xiwang's.

"Looks like the Dragon Warrior is about to leave," she announced.

"Really, what is he thinking?" the elder sister asked the younger one.

"Hmmm, something about a decision and a scroll, but that's all I can tell. He's also going to Master Shifu about something important." Līmīng said while looking at others.

"So, he's heading where we're going… Let's follow him and see what he's going to do." The older panda cub suggested.

"We're going to spy on him… works for me, let's do it." Līmīng answered while giggling lightly.

"Me three, let's tail him." Xiwang added.

"So we're in agreement, good. Now let's go, he just left his room." Qīānxī said to the others. Not wasting another minute, they followed him, seeing a scroll in his paw, wondering what it was and what it contained inside.

After they followed him for some time, they arrived to the Hall of Warriors, seeing it glow a somewhat darkish turquoise as the sun shine on the interior. After Po took a few steps inwards, the trio of children did so also, but dived behind the nearest dragon engraved pillar and stuck their heads from either side to see what was happening. From they could gather; they saw Shifu standing at the Sacred Moon Pool, in his most recognizable position. His he had his paws behind his back, and was standing up right with his tail perfectly still.

"What do you think Shifu is doing up this early?" Xiwang asked the two girls.

"Got me, let's just keep watching." Qīānxī whispered to the two of them.

**Bookmark #2**-

*with Po and Shifu.

"Ah good to see you fully rested Dragon Warrior. I trust that you have made a decision?" Shifu asked, not even bothering to turn around.

"Yeah Shifu, I have my answer. I have one question though," Po said while looking at the scroll in his paw.

"And what question would that be Dragon Warrior?" Shifu asked.

"What did you mean by 'choice'? You said I have decide, what did you mean by that?" Po asked.

"I had a feeling that you would ask that question. Well, I see no point in delaying what is needed to be done. Come Po, approach where I am standing, only then, are we able to begin." Shifu said while stepping to the side and pointing to the spot where Po was to stand. No wanting to wait, Po did as he was told and took his place beside Shifu. Once he did, he placed the scroll he was holding and was now looking at it.

"Alright Shifu, I did as you said, what do I do now?" Po asked while looking at the scroll in his possession.

"Simple Dragon Warrior, we proceed to the next phase. Now, hand me the scroll," Shifu said while holding out his open paw, waiting for the item's warm touch. Po did so and placed the scroll into Shifu's hand, wondering what he would do next. After feeling the item on him, he clenched his fingers around and placed his other palm on the top of the scroll case, popping it open and slid the actual scroll out of the protective case. He placed the top back on the case and placed the empty husk on the ground in between the both of them. Now with that done, Shifu gripped both handles of the scroll and opened it slowly, making sure not to damage the contents that were inside. Once he did, Po's face was struck with surprise as opposed to Shifu's stoic facial features.

A series of explanations, information, and ancient wisdom were on the scroll as were pictures of the five elements; Fire, Water, Wood, Metal and Earth in the center, making a cross sign with the elements on each end, but what Po saw definitely through his common knowledge of the subject out the door, but only for a bit. What he saw in both the northeast and northwest, were two other characters, but he could hardly see what they said, for they were smudged almost completely, making it hard to read.

"I take it you saw the two nearly blotted out characters?" Shifu asked while still looking at the scroll.

"Yeah, I did. Why, do you know what they are?" Po asked.

"In time I will. Tell me Po, what do you know what the Wu Xing is?" Shifu asked.

"c'mon, again with the questions?" Po asked, slightly groaning. He was about to complain, but for some strange unknown, yet creepy reason, he could feel Shifu's glare on him, and he wasn't even looking at him. Swallowing any complaints he had, Po just decided to answer him. "Uh… what I meant to say was, The Wu Xing are the primordial five elements are the govern all of life right?" Po asked, feeling the stare lock off him.

"That is both correct and incorrect Panda. Yes, the five elements do found life for this land, but No, the Wu Xing are not the primordial founders of life." Said Shifu both praising and correcting Po's knowledge of the subject.

"Huh, but that's what I was taught, if the Wu Xing aren't the primordial founders of life, then what?" Po asked.

"Do you remember these two smudged characters on this scroll?" Shifu asked; his focus was still on the scroll.

"Yeah? What about them?" Po asked.

"Tell me Po, did you know of Light and Darkness?" Shifu asked.

"Light and Darkness, no not really, all I know is that during the morning it's all lighty and stuff and when the sun goes down, it gets dark, is that an okay answer?" Po asked. Shifu's ear twitched a little, but he retained his composer.

"I suppose that is a somewhat… tenable answer," Shifu replied. "But actually Po, both Light and Darkness are the primordial founders of the five elements." Shifu informed, making Po go wide-eyed.

"What? But wait, how? I thought it was only just fire, water, earth, wood and metal, you're telling me that both light and dark are the beginning? What's going on…?" Po groaned, feeling his head hurt.

"Calm down Po, I will explain it. For starters, the five elements are, as you know, the bases of life on the land, but do you know how the five main elements came to be?" Shifu asked.

Po racked his brain for an answer, but none came to mind. "I got nothin." Po replied.

"Well, allow me to try to explain it in way you can understand. I would go with Oogway's interpretation of the history, but I feel that would be a tad too… circuitous for you. Rather, I have a better apprehension for you to grasp. I shall tell you a story that my mother told me once when I was young, but, just not the story. I'll be taking parts of the story and point them out. Will that be alright with you?" Shifu asked.

"Sure, just so long as I get it, doesn't matter what form you tell it in." Po replied.

"Very well, now Po, the story I was told back from days of youth proceeds as such. Long ago, when the land was young and there was nothing to begin with. There were only three elements that were present. There was Earth, it was solid and expansive but also barren, no trace of life, at all, not even in the slightest. There was also two other elements that were present as well. There was Light: Guāng and Darkness: Hēi'ān. Those two were also present. They were the starting points of the four elements; they were the parents of Fire, Earth, Water, Metal, and Wood." Shifu said.

"Whoa, wait… their parents? Do elements even have parents?" Po questioned himself while thinking.

"Everything, be it a plant, a build, or animal, has an Origin Point, that same principle goes for The Five, Xiwang, Qīānxī, Līmīng, you and I. No one is an exception Po." Shifu stated. "Now where was I…? Ah yes, the elements. As you can see Po, this rule is something everyone knows, Light and Darkness can never be separated, no matter what. One cannot exist without the other, if that were to happen, the balance would be tipped, and destruction would be brought to the universe. But thankfully, such a thing can never happen, because Light and Darkness; like Yin and Yang, are destined to be together, throughout eternity." Shifu instructed.

"Okay, you explained how the two are connected, but what you didn't say, was how they created the five elements." Po answered.

"I was getting to that. As I mentioned earlier, Light and Darkness are meant to be together, what I am about to say next, is that the two are destined to be against one another forever and ever." Shifu added.

"They sound like an old married couple." Po replied.

"That is because they are. They have been present for eons and eons and eons. No one, not even the ancient protectors from The Hollow of Inviolable Annals knew when Light and Darkness began. All that is known is that Light and Darkness have been around that long. Now, how the elements were born. They were born from the conflict between the parents." Shifu added.

"Hold on, wait a minute, you mean to tell me that the other four elements were born from conflict from the mom and dad? That's the weirdest form of sex I've ever heard." Po replied. Shifu stumbled a bit before regain his posture while letting out a brief cough.

"Not exactly what I meant, but if that helps you understand, then by all means, use that as your starting point. Next for how the elements can be told apart with the help of the Yin and Yang. Listen closely when I tell you this Po. Here is how the four elements can be told apart. Wood and Fire are like their Father, meaning that they both are male and are brothers. they consist solely of Yang energy, but that is also distinguishable. Fire is Full Yang, making it the oldest and Wood is New Yang, meaning that it is the youngest of the five." Shifu said.

"Okay, so Fire and Wood are Yang, meaning both are male brothers, but one is older and and one is younger, okay. Got it down, what about the other three?" Po asked.

"I will answer your question on that now. Next is both Metal and Water. Like Fire and Wood, they too are siblings, but they take after their Mother. Metal and Water are both sisters, consisting solely of Yin energy but they too can be told apart. Metal is of New Yin: meaning that Metal is the youngest, and Water is of Full Yin: meaning that Water is the eldest. Did you understand all that?" Shifu asked.

"Got it all down. So from what you told me, Fire and Water are the oldest, and that Wood and Metal are the youngest. Okay, I got it, but wait where does that leave Earth?" Po asked.

"That, Po, is something only we can speculate. From what records from The Hollow have told us, the Earth Element was most likely born when Light and Darkness came into existence and when they clashed for the first time." Shifu said.

"So that would make the earth element the oldest of the five then. Okay, I get it now," Po said while looking down at Shifu.

"It pleases me that you understand it so easily Dragon Warrior, Good work." Shifu praised.

"Thanks, but there is one thing that bothers me though." Po said.

"and what would that be?" the red panda asked.

"How exactly do you know all this Shifu?" Po asked.

"All of this information can be reviewed in The Hollow of Inviolable Annals at any time. Now, shall we proceed to using this scroll?" Shifu asked.

"Let's do it!" Po exclaimed while cupping his fist, cracking a few knuckles in the process.

"Very well, let us proceed, but before that. Tell me Po, which manner of weapon are you willing to use?" Shifu asked while looking up at Po.

"Weapon huh? Well, I am Doing Dragon Style Kung Fu, so I prefer to use my fists, so enemies will know the power of my Lightning Paws of Bodacious Fury! Hwwtah!" Po exclaimed while punching the air repeatedly until coming to a stop and looked down to Shifu, who was just looking to the side and had a slight frown.

"Alright, so you choose to use your fists do you? Well, what would you do if you were not allowed to use your fists?" Shifu asked, bring Po enthusiasm to a halt.

"Hm, well, I guess I would use a sword as a backup, ya never know." Po replied.

"You choose a sword as your second choice. Hm? Po, you have shown me that in the last year you have matured… somewhat." Shifu added under his breath. "But I believe that you are responsible enough to handle the Sword of Heroes, so I will allow you to use it," Shifu said. "Think of it as a present for your commendable efforts in being a warrior as of late." Shifu said with a smile. Po looked like he was about to burst, he was given the chance to use the Sword of Heroes? And it would be in HIS possession? He couldn't believe it.

"This… is… so… AWESOME! I get to be the holder of such an artifact? Oh man, this is severely cool!" Po squealed, holding his balled fists to his chin and was bouncing a bit.

"Po, do not make me regret my decision. I am entrusting you with an important piece history, do not let me down." Shifu said while handing Po the scroll, which he took. Once he passed the scroll to Po, he proceeded to retrieve the sword, just in time to see three familiar heads dart behind the pillar, making the Grand Master smirk.

**Bookmark #3**-

*With Xiwang, Qīānxī, and Līmīng

"Oh crap! you think he saw us?" Xiwang asked while looking down at the two girls who were looking back at him, worry on both their faces.

"I don't know, but most likely he did, I mean he IS Master Shifu after." Qīānxī said in a pessimistic tone of voice

"If that's true, what are we going to do?" asked the little sister.

"How about you come out of hiding and give the Dragon Warrior and I a proper morning greeting, hmmm?" asked a familiar voice, making them jump.

"Told ya." Qīānxī replied.

Not wanting to keep the Master waiting, the trio, quickly hoped out from behind the pillar and quickly lined up following it up with a bow and said together in unison, "Good Morning Master!" with their heads low.

"Good morning to you three as well, I trust you slept well?" he asked, in a calm tone of voice.

"Yes Master, we did." Xiwang said, speaking on behalf of them.

"Good. I hope you three know the penalty for spying on a Master and his Student is," Shifu asked while looking at them with a no-nonsense look on his face.

"No Master, what is the punishment?" Xiwang asked, regretting what he just said.

"I'm glad you asked. the penalty for spying is 200 laps around the base of the mountain," Shifu said. Correction, NOW Xiwang was regretting why he asked that.

"We understand. When do you want us to start?" Xiwang asked.

"Well, I would say right about now," He started. He watched the children rotate till their backs were facing Shifu and were about to take off, but decided to stop them. "If you were training today, which we're not. So there is no need." He said with a chuckle, making the quickly turn back around. This time Qīānxī was the one to speak up this time.

"that wasn't funny old man, just about ready to run out of here, and let me tell you, I am not the running type." She said. Shifu chuckled at her insolence.

"Well, regardless if you are a certain type of not, that is irrelevant here. Now, let us go greet the Dragon Warrior." Shifu said while walking over to the Sword of Heroes, retrieving it and walking back to Po, who was looking at the scroll. As he approached him, Po noticed out of his peripheral vision and looked up from the parchment and looked down to Shifu, who was holding the Sword.

"The Sword of Heroes… Oh man, this is really happening," Po said while reaching for it, only to have snatched away by Shifu.

"Dragon Warrior, I believe that it is poor manners to not address your students, wouldn't you agree?" Shifu asked while looking towards the children, that were standing at the base of the steps. Po looked to where Shifu was looking, just in time to see his three pupils standing there with sheepish smiles.

"Well look whose is up and about, G'mornin you three. You all slept well?" Po asked.

"Good morning Dragon Warrior," they all said together, with the traditional fist in palm gesture. "And yes, we slept well Master." Līmīng said while smiling.

"Well, that's good to hear, what brings you here this morning?" Po asked.

"Well, you were on you're here, and we decided to follow you. You're not mad are you?" Xiwang asked.

"What, nah, I'm not mad. In fact, I'm glad you guys are here." said Po, making the three kids, look a tad shocked.

"Really, why is that?" Xiwang asked.

"Ah no reason really, I'm just glad you guys are here." Po said, making the tiger cub, lightly chuckle.

"So what are you guys doing now anyways?" Xiwang asked.

"Shifu is going have undergo some kinda trial or somethin? I dunno. Feel free to stay and watch if you want, but I don't think that the others are up yet anyways." Po said as Shifu was now beside him. He handed the scroll back to elderly red panda and waited for further instructions on what to do.

"Welp, since we're here and what not, this could make for an excellent time for a little history lesson, just ya know, after you and Shifu do whatever it was." Qīānxī said.

"That would be Master Shifu to you young lady. And yes, I would be glad to give you three a history lesson. But first, Po has some work to do. Now Po, are you ready to begin?" Shifu asked while walking over to the edge of the Sacred Moon Pool with the scroll in hand.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Bring on the Challenge, there's nothing this Dragon Warrior can't handle." Po stated confidently, while thumbing his chest, his arrogance also rising.

"We'll see how long that confidence lasts." Shifu replied while smirking to the side.

No longer delaying what needed to be done, the Grand Master knelt down and placed the open scroll onto the surface of the water and gave it a gentle push. Once he did, he rested his paws in the water and watched it float into the center, which strangely, it stopped in the center, directly under the Golden Dragon statue, just as it, the parchment began to glow a golden color same as the dragon above it, when the four looked up, they saw the dragon status' eyes were glowing white. They all could feel the warmth radiate from the ornament. Just as their focus was be solely on the object above, another bright light was shining from below, they quickly turned their attention downwards to see that Moon Pool was glowing a pale white color, just like the Moon itself. To follow it up, 13 plain colored orbs rose from the water, all the way up until they were resting around the Gold Dragon, as if waiting for something or anything in general on what to do next.

Seeing this as a perfect opportunity, Po decided to ask, what was going on.

"Um, Shifu?" Po asked his master, who still had his paws in the water.

"Yes Dragon Warrior, what is your question?" Shifu asked in a calm manner, not even phased by what was happening.

"Uh yeah, do you mind telling me, just, oh I don't know, what the heck is goin on?" Po demanded in a panicked voice.

"simple, you are going to undergo a trail for which ALL Dragon Warriors are destined for." Shifu replied in the same calm manner, which still didn't help Po's current mood or tension.

"That still doesn't explain what's going with all… This!" Po exclaimed while pointing at everything in front of him.

"Patients Dragon Warrior, it will all become clear after this final part," Shifu said while now proceeding to stand back fully, pulling his wet, but white glowing paws out of the water. "Now Po, if you could please stand back a bit," Shifu said. Po did as he was told and stood back enough to give Shifu some room to work with. As he did, he felt the familiar presence of three beings, desperately cling on to him from behind, they were confused at what was going with this scenario, and that was understandable, for Po didn't know either.

Now that Shifu had more space, he proceeded unto the next phase of the final process.

"Alright, now for the hand signs," Shifu said while rising both of his paws and held them there for a moment, at the same time, the clear orbs reacted to him. He brought both paws down to his chest level and the orbs reacted, lowing as well. With the process in motion, he did not delay for he began with the first of the thirteen hand signs.

(A/N: for the next thirteen words, I'm just gonna put the color alongside the word, to speed this along. So here we go.)

"Rat." he called out while making the hand sign, as he did, the Chinese character appeared in the clear orb, but this time, color was showing as well. The color of Gray now filled the orb, along with the black characters. With that done, he proceeded onto the next one, faster this time.

"Ox." - Blue

"Tiger." - White

"Rabbit." - Light Green

"Dragon." – Yellow

"Snake." - Green

"Horse." - Brown

"Goat." - Silver

"Monkey." – Light Brown

"Rooster." - Red

"Dog." - Gold

"Pig." - Purple

"Cat." - *Pink

(A/N: *Pink – fun fact, I learned in Minute Physics. The color pink, get this, it doesn't exist. At all. It's just leftovers of white light; also, it's what is filled in the blank space of the color spectrum, along with radio waves, micro waves, inferred, ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays and so on. Since we can't see them, we replace all the granger with pink. And since the 12 Chinese Zodiacs animals normally consist of 13 animals, but only 12 are used, I figured that pink would best suit the cat. Also, you can call pink: Minus green, since it's leftovers of white light when you take out the green. Hope you you enjoyed that little fun fact. Now, back to the story.)

With that done, all thirteen orbs were filled with color, and were awaiting for the next command, Shifu turned his head to face the four, who were still in shock from what was going on in front of them, issuing a warning. "Po, Xiwang, Līmīng, Qīānxī," Shifu called out to them. They immediately turned their attention to the Grand Master, their confused faced telling him all he needed to know. "I want all of you to close your eyes, I am about to perform the Golden Lotus Clap, it is imperative that you keep your eyes closed, understand?" he asked. They didn't argue, they as they were told, and shut their eyes immediately. Once he saw that they had done was told, he proceeded onto the task. With both of his paws by his side, he moved them in fluent motion all the way around in a circle until they were spread out before by his side, seizing this opportunity, he clenched his eyes completely and brought his paws to together, emitting a sound of a dull gong being stuck and an airy wave of gold erupted from the clap. It was clearly heard by the four of them, and the orb reacted, they shot upwards and lodged themselves into the imaginary sockets that surrounded the Golden Dragon Status, as if waiting for something. Once done, Shifu opened his eyes to see that the ritual was done, and that it was now safe for the others to open their eyes.

"You can open your eyes now." Shifu announced while looking at the four who still had their eyes closed. Po was the first to open his eyes, the trio of children followed, seeing as how Po was given the alright before them. When they did, they too saw the marvel before them.

The 13 orbs were colorfully lit up, so was the Dragon Statue, as if waiting for something to happen next.

"Shifu?" Po asked, still keeping his eyes on the sight before him.

"Yes Dragon Warrior, what seems to be the problem?" Shifu asked while turning to face him, his face still stoic and composed, no trace of surprise was seeable.

"Now are you gonna tell me what the heck is going on now?" Po asked, trying not to raise his voice, even though he wanted to, but knew better not to.

"The answer is very simply Dragon Warrior, you are to undergo a trial that move you along in path to enlightenment, but to do that; you must best the Dragon Tribulation Trial that awaits you." Shifu said.

"Dragon Tribulation Trial?" Po repeated, not sure how to process what Shifu just said to him.

"That is correct Dragon Warrior, like I said before; this is a test that EVERY Dragon Warrior must go through. In the past, many previous Dragon Warriors have under gone this trail, and just as your predecessors before you, you too, must undergo this Tribulation, no exceptions or excuses." Shifu firmly said.

"gods, How do you KNOW all this stuff?" Po asked, still trying to get that concept across his head. Shifu just gave him a look that spoke for itself. "OH, right THAT place, got it." The panda said.

"Po?" asked a familiar voice, causing him to look down, seeing that Xiwang was looking up at him. "What are you going to do, is it something important?" the cub asked.

"From the look of it Xi, looks like I have to take a special test. Something that I need to do I guess." Po replied while looking back the glowing statue.

"Will you be alright?" Līmīng asked while looking at the older panda.

"I'll A-Okay! Just you watch." Po replied while stepping away from the kids to approach Shifu. "By the way Xiwang, you're voice sounds a little funny, did you eat something weird last night?" Po asked, making the cub jump a little and just shaking his head no.

"Not that I know of, I just woke up like this, and the next thing I know, my voice is all squeaky, even though it doesn't sound like that now, it's sorer, but I feel completely fine." The tiger cub replied. He could see that Po was now thinking about his condition.

"Hm, sore throat going to squeaky then back to being sore, feeling completely fine when you throat isn't. What could this mean?" Po asked himself.

"What it means Po, is that Xiwang has taken a step to adulthood." Shifu informed.

Po, still not good with understanding most terms just simply asked "meaning?" making the red panda's ear twitch lightly.

"It means that Xiwang has reached puberty Po. He is on his way to becoming an adult." Shifu explained, trying not to hit his face from the panda's lack of specific knowledge of a common subject.

"Puberty? Xiwang, how old are you?" Po asked, shocked from just finding out about this.

"I'm… I'm 13… today's my birthday, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that." The cub replied sheepishly, his tail wrapping around his ankle.

"Is that so? Well, Happy 13th Birthday dude. Gotta make you something when I'm done, still, I had no idea you were 13, that's quite a shock." Po replied.

"Thank you." Xiwang replied quickly, not sure how to respond to that.

"Yes, I will have Po prepare you something spectacular when he is done and I will have the five run out to pick up some presents later on, but for now-" Just Shifu was going announce something else, five medium sized spheres suddenly and surprisingly, appeared from the scroll that was still floating in the pool, and just as fast as they appeared, they all shot off in the same direction leaving the Hall of Warriors to areas unknown. The five in the Hall of Warriors just looked at what happened and could offer no explanation to what just happened, mainly Shifu, once again, he wasn't surprised or even the least bit curious, which was strange on Po's part, cause right, he was desperately trying to formulate what was going on, but to no avail.

"Well, that was unusual, but no matter. Let us not waste anymore daylight, Po, are you ready to undergo the Dragon Tribulation Trail?" Shifu asked while turning his attention back to Po, whose mouth was comically opened wide, but nothing was coming out, at least not until he was spoken to.

"Well, seeing as how what just happened, I can't really say that I'm surprised anymore, but still, I'd like an explanation as to what the heck is going on." Po said. "Alright Shifu, what do I have to do now?" Po asked this time, not sure what to do now.

"Simple Dragon Warrior, you are going to active the Golden Dragon Statue." Shifu replied.

"Okay, yeah sure. That sounds simple enough to – Wait… What?" Po questioned while looking at the elderly red panda whose paws were behind his back and his attention was on the Golden Dragon above them.

"Just as said a second ago. You; Dragon Warrior, are going to active that statue above us." Shifu replied.

"Okay, it's one thing with the glowing dragon and glowy orb… thingies in the air, but now you want me, to active THAT?" Po asked while pointing towards the object, looking directly at Shifu, his eyes wide open.

"Yes, that is correct Dragon Warrior." Shifu replied calmly.

"And HOW in the name of the Gods, do you suppose I do that?" the panda asked.

"I am glad you asked. you are going to active it with your technique; The Thundering Wind Hammer." Shifu responded with a small smile.

"You want me to use that, but I thought you told me not use it, not matter what." Po said.

"Well, right now is an exception. So, please." Shifu said.

"Uh, excuse me," called out Xiwang.

"Yes little one, what is your question?" Shifu asked while turning his attention to the cub, which was now joined by the twins on each side.

"Uh, what exactly is the Thundering Wind Hammer?" Xiwang asked.

"Yeah, you caught my attention too, what is it?" Qīānxī asked eager to know what it was also.

"I, too, would like to know as well please." Līmīng asked politely.

Po wasn't one to deny a fellow mammal when they asked for something. But rather than saying, he just decided that it would be easier to show them.

"Well, since you all insisted, I'd be glad to, but rather than explaining it, I'll just show you instead. Does that work?" he asked the trio of children, who nodded their heads eagerly for a demonstration. "Alright, prepare to be stupefied, now stand back and be amazed!" Po said while going into a stance, prepping himself for the move.

"remember Po, aim for the Dragon Orb, it is in the Statue's mouth." Shifu pointed out while, while directing Po to his target.

"right, got it. Okay, here I go!" Po said while taking a few breaths to steady himself. After a moment of mental preparation, he was ready, unleashing the momentum that he been storing up, rotating his body over and over, gaining more speed while staying in that one spot, making his entire body a black white blur, with the exception of his pants in the mix. The three cubs watched in awe as they were witnessing the Dragon Warrior in action, wondering what would happen next. After a few more second of the consistent spinning, Po abruptly stopped his rotation and his entire left paw was covered pure green. The cubs could only stare in surprise at what they were seeing, for this was entirely new to them, but just when they were about to question, Po shot his arm in the trajectory that was align with the target and the energy ball left his paw and flew towards gold with a blinding speed. Once the energy made contact with orb, there was a moment where nothing happened. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity, Po turned to the cubs that were looking at him with amazement.

"Wow, Po that was Amazing!" Xiwang said while smiling widely.

"Yeah, that was so cool! How'd you do that?" asked Līmīng.

"Do you think I can do that?" Qīānxī asked, wanting to know how to do what the Dragon Warrior just did.

"Well, I don't know if I can, I mean, the Thundering Wind Hammer is one of the Seven Impossible Moves, I don't think that anybody could just up and learn it." Po said to the trio.

"**Yet such a move is not impossible for one who has much dedication to learn of a skill.**" A powerful and commanding voice said, coming from behind them, causing fear to well up in them, aside from Shifu, who was still composed, not even showing the least bit of worry.

"Uh, Master Shifu?" said Po in a timid voice.

"Yes Dragon Warrior, what is it?" the red panda asked.

"Whose voice was that?" Po replied.

Shifu chuckled at Po's expression, for it was only natural for one to not know what was going on. "Turn around and see for yourself, Dragon Warrior." Shifu answered while gesturing Po to look behind him with an open paw. Doing at he was told, Po slowly turned his head to see where the voice came from. Once he did, he was beyond surprised by what he saw. He saw a ghostly figure of a Yellow Dragon that was now hovering above the Moon Pool, holding four colored spheres in its claws and its reflection was very clear, meaning that it was real, but that still didn't lay Po's anxiety to rest. Shifu could see that Po, as well as the children were still spooked by this. "Dragon Warrior, Children, I would like you to meet eldest of the five elements; HuangLong." Shifu introduced.

"**I am pleased to make your acquaintances Xiwang, L****ī****m****ī****ng and Q****īā****nx****ī****. I am especially honored to meet you Dragon Warrior; Po Xiao Ping. I have been looking forward to our meeting.**" HuangLong stated.

"Uhh… N-nice to meet you too…" Po answered while, chuckling nervously.

"L-l-likewise." Said Xiwang, who was ducking behind Po, as were the panda twins.

HuangLong just chuckled lightly. "**I understand why you four are acting this way; it is not every day that you are given the chance to bear witness to seeing a Founder of the Wu Xing. Be not afraid, for I am the ally of every being that resides on my earth. You have nothing to worry about. And Shifu, it is good to see you again my old friend, how are things as of late? you are looking a tad older, but you still have the spark of youth in you I see.**" Said HuangLong, while turning his attention to the red panda who was smiling at the ethereal dragon that was hovering in front of them.

"HuangLong, I am only sixty three years old, mind you. And yes old friend it is good to see you again, but I fear that now is not the time for reminiscing, I am afraid." Shifu said.

"**I understand clearly, you summoned me for one thing. Po Xiao Ping had decided to undergo the Dragon Tribulation Trial is he not?**" HuangLong asked, already knowing the answer.

"That is correct. He has made his decision to undergo the trial." Shifu stated.

"**Very good. And you do not need to tell me his choice of weaponry, I already know. He has chosen to use his own hands, he chooses to use his own power to handle a situation and he has chosen a sword as his sidearm has he? Very well, with all that properly arranged we can begin the trail.**" HuangLong said.

"Uh, excuse me Mr. Yellow Dragon sir, but, um what exactly will the trial be about?" Po asked.

"**Worry not Dragon Warrior, I shall tell you once you have arrive at the starting point. Now, place yourself in the lotus position and rest the Sword of Heroes on your lap,**" Huang Long instructed.

"Alright," he turned back to Xiwang and smiled. "Don't worry little buddy, when I'm done we'll throw you a big birthday party and stuff, can you keep an eye on your sisters?" Po asked. The tiger cub simply nodded his answer, making it easier for Po. "Good, I'll be back before you know it." Po said while taking up the Sword of Heroes and doing as he was instructed earlier. He got into lotus position and rested the sword on his being, awaiting what to do next. "Alright, what now?" Po asked while looking at HuangLong.

"**Now Dragon Warrior, I need you to close your eyes and travel to your Inner Peace for the next phase, only then can we begin your trial. But worry not; it will be a painless transition.**" HuangLong stated, putting Po at ease.

"Well, when you put it that way, alright. Here I go." Po said while closing his eyes, his breathing became slow and calm, his intake of breaths even, his posture perfect and his mind clear. Po was quickly attaining Inner Peace, and the Yellow Dragon could sense this.

"**Amazing, only a few seconds pass and he is already transcending the plane to achieve Inner Peace,**" HuangLong said while looking upon the young man sitting in front of him.

"Well yes. Po has an uncanny ability to learn things so quickly that would normally take years for the average person to learn. Only a week has passed since he found his Inner Peace," Shifu stated proudly. "And at such a young age." He added, some sourness was clear in his voice and HuangLong clearly sensed it.

"**Now, now Shifu. There is no need for jealously. It is a good thing that the youth of his generation are learning such things at his age; it just makes our duties much easier. I also noticed that Po has learned a variety of techniques so early in his life. Such as: The Golden Lotus clap, The Fluttering Mind-Slip, The Thundering Wind Hammer, The Mongolian Fireball, and even the Wuxi Finger Hold.**" HuangLong said, but Shifu had no reconciliation of Po knowing such a powerful and dangerous technique.

"Po knows the Wuxi Finger Hold? I never taught him that! So how…" Shifu pondered.

"**Remember when you stated that The Dragon Warrior has an uncanny ability learn things quickly, that is a capacious part on his being. If that is true, then Po just may be able to learn The Kiss of Purification.**" HuangLong mused, and that immediately captured Shifu attention.

"You mean THE Kiss of Purification? Only one warrior was able to master that sacred technique and that was the Original Dragon Warrior. Do you think Po is capable of that task?" Shifu asked the dragon.

"**That, I do not know, nor can I specifically say. From I know, for one to use such an arte, he must have perfect Inner Peace, and from the perspective of Dragon Warrior, the possibility is very agreeable, but only time will tell.** ** Speaking of which, it seems that Po is completely and perfectly in tune with his Inner Peace, now I will proceed to initiating his trail. I will be back later, in the meantime, I believe that today is a certain tiger cub's birthday, is it not?**" asked HuangLong with a smile, making the young male smile slightly.

"Ah yes, right. I will have The Five run out and pick up presents when they awake, until then, I will give the children a little history lesson since they had asked earlier." Shifu replied while looking at the cubs, which were now walking towards him.

"**Very well then, I will see you all momentarily.**" HuangLong replied, while placing four orbs around Po, letting them hover and a thin line of energy was surrounding him, letting the Dragon connect a link from mind to Po's, entering the panda's mindscape.

"Now, how about that history lesson?" Shifu asked while smiling.

**Bookmark #4**-

*Meanwhile, in Po's mindscape*

Upon opening his eyes slowly, Po's eyes were adjusting to the light that was now pouring in, but that didn't take long. Soon, he had his full vision back, but when he did, the scenery was not what he was expecting. As he was standing up, he was also taking in what he was seeing and it was amazing, surprising and creepy all wrapped up in big package. He saw three setting of time all in one place. It was a blue morning on the left side, afternoon in the middle; the sky was clearly orange, and on the right, it was night time with the stars and moon present, but there were two divides in between. And when Po looked down, he could see that he was standing on a dirt way and the field looked of grass and plants, the color was affected by the time setting in the sky and a gentle breeze was swaying from the east, making the panda feel nice, but that still didn't pardon the fact that he wanted to know he was.

"Okay, where the heck am I now?" Po asked out.

"**Dragon Warrior, I welcome you to Field of Pathways,**" said a familiar voice, making Po jump a little when he heard that.

"HuangLong! Geez, you scared me." Po replied while seeing the dragon take form in front of him, but on a much larger scale above him.

"**Allow me to apologize Dragon Warrior, for I did not mean to frighten you; it is not every day that I am seen. But that is beside the point, you have work to do, are you ready to begin your Dragon Tribulation Trial?**" the yellow dragon asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be. So, what do I gotta do?" Po asked.

"**Before we can actually begin your trail, you must choose which path you will take to obtain powers.**" HuangLong stated.

"Wait, powers?" Po asked.

"**That is correct. You are to choose which path you shall undergo, but I must warn you Dragon Warrior, the three paths before you, are not for the faint of heart. You must decide with path is correct for you, for if you choose poorly the mistake could be fatal.**" HuangLong warned.

"You mean I could die? Shifu never told me about that!" Po shouted, not believing what he just heard.

"**He did not want to influence your decision, which is why he stayed silent.**" HuangLong stated.

"He still coulda warned me!" Po replied.

"**That would be the same as influencing. But worry not Dragon Warrior; I will oversee your choice and what path you take and be with you the entire time.**" The yellow Dragon said, trying to chip off a bit of Po's anxiety.

"Well, that doesn't exactly help me, but alright, I guess that works too… Alright, so, how do I choose my path?" Po asked.

"**Do you see where the path before you splits? Continue towards it until you approach the forks in the road, there; I will explain more on what to do.**" The yellow dragon instructed. Po did as he was told, and made his way to spot he was told to go to, when he got there, he awaited further instructions.

"Alright, I'm here, what do I do now? " Po asked while looking up at the Yellow Dragon.

"**Now Dragon Warrior, before you lay three pathways for you to pick. You are to pick which path is correct for you, be it Light,**" HuangLong pointed out while looking to the left, as did Po. "**Twilight,**" he was looking down the middle path. "**or Darkness,**" he looked to the path on the right, that was leading into the night. "**One of these specific paths is meant for you Dragon Warrior.**" The Yellow Dragon specified, making Po feel a little easier about choosing, but the choices he was given, didn't stop him from asking which path did what.

"Okay, So I have to choose which one huh? But before I do that, can you tell me which path does what?" he asked, hoping to get an answer. Much to his relief, he got one.

"**Since you have asked, I will tell you. If you are to choose The Path of Ascension Via Lightwaves, your resolve which directed you to learn Kung Fu will be put to the ultimate test. However, if you choose the Light, your primordial fear of Darkness will grow. Your sanity will remain, but that ever present fear will upset your balance. If you choose the Thoroughfare Amidst The Blackness, you will face your dark side combined with all of your yang chi, dark desires and dark emotions all in one, making it a very difficult battle to overcome, but should you surpass yourself, you will never again know the restfulness that resides in the Light. Should you choose the path of Twilight, you will face both your darkside and have your resolve tested; only to gain absolute control of yourself and place you on the path to enlightenment, if you should lose; your will to fight and defend all will be lost. Now, choose your fate.**" HuangLong commanded.

"Huh, so if I choose the light, I'll become closer to the gods, but only to have my fears of darkness grow as well? Hmm, that being said, I choose darkness, I'll get stronger, more powerful, but I'll never peace or rest again? But wait, isn't Darkness evil? If I choose Darkness, won't I turn evil as well?" Po asked.

"**Be not confused with mortal derogatoriness of the word 'Darkness' young one. That is a simple misunderstanding that you mortals have given it, simply your fear and lack of understanding. Darkness denotes that it is neither good or evil, but that it simply is, and nothing more.**" HuangLong informed, making Po raise an eyebrow.

"Okay, but I was told that Darkness is evil, you mean it's not?" Po asked.

"**That is correct, Dragon Warrior. Darkness is not evil, but rather, action and follies fall solely to users of such, giving it the wrong outlook.**" HuangLong said.

"What?" Po asked; the entire concept just went over his head, leaving him confused. HuangLong just chuckled at the response.

"**Allow me to say it in a way that you can understand Dragon Warrior. Say that you cross path with a man, and he is able to use the power of Darkness, but for the wrong purpose. Does this make Darkness evil?**" the yellow dragon asked.

"Uh… I dunno, yes… maybe?" Po replied, not sure how to respond, making the Yellow Dragon laugh.

"**No, no Dragon Warrior, it does not. It is the PERSON that is using the Darkness that is evil, not the Darkness itself. You see Dragon Warrior; it all falls to the actions of the person. That individual can be a kind soul who uses the power of Darkness, making the Darkness good as well, as opposed to a person who is evil and is using the power of Light, making the Light evil as well. In all, Light and Darkness are neither good or bad, only the individual making the choice. Now do you understand?**" HuangLong asked.

"Yeah, I get it now, it all makes sense. With that piece of knowledge, I know which path I want to go down. And well, you don't need to tell me which one I want to take. I'm going for the middle path if you don't mind." Po said, causing the ethereal dragon above him to look at the panda with surprise.

"**Are you fully certain that you wish to take the middle pathway? Only the Original Dragon Warrior was capable of clearing it, should you be defeated, your will to fight shall be shattered. Be honest with yourself Dragon Warrior, are you absolutely, resolutely and honestly sure you wish to take the path of your choice?**" HuangLong asked, fearing for the young man before him.

"C'mon Dragon dude, I'm the Dragon Warrior, if anything, I KNOW I can handle the choice I made. Now, let's not waste any more time, I got party to set up. Let's get the show on the road." Po stated confidently, causing HuangLong to let out a hearty laugh.

"**So much like him, you are. Very well, I can see that your mindset has been placed. Let us begin, take your first step on the path of your choice and we will begin trail, Dragon Warrior.**" HuangLong stated while smiling at the panda.

"Now that's more like it! Let's get to it." Po said while taking a step forward, bring him one step closer to his goal. He continued walking, and the other two paths vanished from sight, only the one he was on remained.

"**It is good to see your resolve to control yourself is clearly evident. I am grateful that the Gods themselves have chosen you Dragon Warrior,**" HuangLong stopped his voice and was silent for a moment, seeing as how it would be a bit before the actual trail started, now was as a good a time as any to get this out and let the Dragon Warrior of his purpose. "**Dragon Warrior, if I may, I also have something I wish to speak to you about. For the last week, you have been having nightmares, have you not?**" the dragon asked. Po didn't stop walking to answer, he just kept moving, but was not about to keep quite from the question that was asked, even though it made him uncomfortable.

"Yeah I have. I rather not go into detail about it, but yeah, I've been having nightmares lately." Po replied.

"**I see. You even had a dream about the Coming End, did you not?**" HuangLong asked, making Po shiver.

"Yes, I did. It still scares me, even now." Po said while still marching forward. "Why, do you know something about it?" the panda asked while looking up at the yellow serpent.

"**Indeed I do, in fact, my sibling and I, we are the reason for the approaching End that you have seen in your prophetic dreams.**" HuangLong informed, causing Po stumble a bit before coming to a halt in his tracks.

"Wait, you mean to say, YOU and your brothers and sisters are to blame, what do you mean by that?" Po asked, not believing what he just heard.

"**Dragon Warrior this may be hard to hear, but you need to hear it, nonetheless. Dragon Warrior, My siblings and I… We are dying. Slowly, but surely, I know that this is difficult for you to hear, but it is the truth. We do not have a lot of time left.**" HuangLong pointed out, causing the panda to shudder.

"Do you know when you… y'know," Po asked, feeling that looming fear creep up in the back if his mind.

"**At the most, we all have only a year left after today Dragon Warrior.**" HuangLong pointed out, no fear or trepidation in his voice, meaning he was dead serious.

"A-and… if you do…" Po trailed.

"**Everything on earth is will become inhospitable and unable to support life. The land will become barren and every mortal being will die, but that is only the lightest of the grave situation. When it happens, Life will be unable to restart and Darkness will cover this world, but the Kind Darkness that father has for all creatures, I mean an Evil kind of Darkness will settle, for all eternity. And Gods can do nothing about it I am afraid.**" HuangLong added, but was surprised by Po's response.

"If," Po said simply.

"**I beg your pardon?**" HuangLong asked, not sure what Po meant by that.

"You mean 'IF' it happens, and don't worry, it's not gonna happen." Po said while casting the Dragon above him a reassuring grin of confidence before continuing his walking. The Yellow Dragon could only smile at the young man's enthusiasm.

"**Dragon Warrior, you never fail to impress me. Your enthusiasm is very commendable, by that fact, the approaching End does not seem so certain anymore. You truly are a beckon of hope, just as the Gods have envisioned. I am no longer worried. Now, Po Xiao Ping let us begin your Dragon Tribulation Trial.**" HuangLong affirmed.

"You got it. But uh… how so I start?" Po asked.

"**Your trail is already beginning. The scenario is already changing, to the setting of when your dark emotions first began to form. Do you remember when it began?**" HuangLong asked.

Po was looking around him to see what HuangLong was talking about, and it was true. The calm field of grass and plants was changing into something else; it was becoming more and more modern, like it was changing into a… classroom! Po knew was was going on, the entire area was changing into his class of when he was just a boy, and if memory served any further, this was the class of where he and his childhood bully would spend most of the mornings when he was growing up.

It was clear that he HATED going there, but he didn't have any other choice, his father had him go there to learn some things that he couldn't teach Po. When Po was done with that place, he vowed never to come back.

"This can't be… this is my old classroom! Hey HuangLong, you said that…HuangLong?" Po called out to the dragon, but not seeing him anywhere, only walls, a roof and rows of stools. "Hey, where are you? You said you'd be with me!"

"**Calm yourself Dragon Warrior; I am with you, but I am not physically there. Remember, this is YOUR trail, I am not allowed to help you. This is a trial that you must surpass on your own. You will see me again when the obstacle is completed. Do not worry, I have faith in you. Now Dragon Warrior, before you stands an accumulation of all your darkness and Yang chi, yet the being is in the form of a child is it not?**" HuangLong asked. Po could clearly see that the dark version of him was indeed in the shape of a child, but that was it confused him.

"Yeah, I do, but question why? Why does my darkside look a child?" Po asked.

"**Because Dragon Warrior, that room you are in, it is the starting point of your darkness, where it was sparked and grew from that day forward.**" The Yellow Dragon said to Po.

"It is. I know that better than anybody else… Alright, what do I have to do?" Po asked.

"**You are to overcome yourself, subdue the darkness that has been bottled up, regardless of the Inner Peace that you have obtained. Now begin Dragon Warrior, I wish you luck.**" And with that, HuangLong went silent.

**Bookmark #5**-

Seeing that HuangLong wasn't going to speak this time, Po decided that it was best to continue with the trail and get it over with. Po walked over to the dark filled silhouette version of himself from his younger years. Seeing no features that could make out face, all that was there was darkness, pure empty darkness that was smoky and dropping bits and pieces of shadows from its body, but still maintaining its form, no matter how much blackness was lost.

"Uh… Hey there… me. What's up?" Po asked perkily.

"_I did… my best…_" started the shadow.

"Huh, whatcha say?" Po asked.

"_I the best… I could. See, I got a pair of Shuang Gou. And I bought my first set of real steel Throwing Stars. My friends said that they didn't want to be seen with some fat loser. But then my dad got really mad. He said that weapons are dangerous and are not meant for Noodle folks like us. And that I was being silly for trying to imitate the Furious Five. I didn't have a choice. I was forced to throw away what I had saved up for, for a long time. And then… and then… my friends…_"droned the shadow.

"Now I remembered why I disliked this place." Po muttered while looking off to the side.

"**Facing one's own Darkness is always difficult, Dragon Warrior. Memories can be a double edged sword.**" HuangLong chipped in.

"I know that, I know that very well." Po replied.

"_I… did my best. I tried to do what everyone said… even for the Five. But… none of it worked. I mean, it's so unfair! I do the best I possibly could to please them and even that isn't enough for them! I've only got one of myself! And even so, they're always trying to push me in opposite directions! But I still tried! I did my best to please them and do what they said! Because if I didn't, they'd all leave me! They told me… they didn't need someone like me!_" the shadow pointed out, it's voice dripping with anger and emotion.

"I don't want to see this, why do I have go through this again?" Po stated, feeling tears start to well up in his eyes, but forced them to stay down.

"**Even though you found Inner Peace, remnant emotions of your past sadness are still there Dragon Warrior, you must face them in order to be truly free of the emotional chains. Do you remember those five orbs you saw earlier, that arose from the scroll in the Moon Pool; I sent them to the Furious Five, for they are a part of your emotional chain that bound you to your dark emotions. They are seeing this as of right now, but cannot interact with you, or hear my voice, they can only watch this. You cannot see them either, it's only you here. When they awake and you are finished with your trail, they will come to you to apologize even though they already did. They must see what you are TRULY feeling to be able honestly apologize. It is painful yes, but it is needed to complete this part of your trial, now continue and do not run away from yourself.**" HuangLong pointed out before falling silent again. Po said nothing and continued watching.

"_But… No matter how hard I tried, it was no good…_" Then the shadow figure of Po started to violently tremor and an even darker aura was now surrounding him, and his paws clenched into fists. "_I tried and I tried, and none of them would praise me… Not Mantis… Not Monkey... Not Crane… Not Viper… Not Tigress! None of them would praise me! None of them would accept me! NONE OF THEM WOULD LOOK AT 'ME'! I don't wanna be alone… I don't wanna be alone! __**I DON'T WANNA BE ALONE!**_" He shouted, causing the room they were in to explode, blasting away the walls, and revealing the world to them, only to have it look completely different. The sky was now black with stormy clouds above them; the luscious green grass was now dead and barren.

"What is this, where am I?" Po asked while looking around, trying to figure out where he was.

"_Where do you think stupid? This is still our mind, even though it's pretty fucked up, I like It._" said a familiar voice, only this time, it was full of malice and sadistic sarcasm. Po spun around to see another version of himself, only this time, it was fully visible and an exact doppelgänger of him, but Po knew all too well who it was that was before him.

"I know you, you're the dark version of me; Bad Po!" Po said while going into his battle stance.

"_In the fur baby! I'm surprised you still remember me after the last nine months, I can tell from right here you've changed, grown stronger and found Inner Peace. Good Job! Even though you still have that goofy type of look on your face. So how ya been buddy?_"

"I've been doing fine on my own, and a lot growing up, no thanks to you. Why am I even going on about this, you don't care." Po replied to his dark self.

"_Oh c'mon, don't be like that. I mean, it takes two to grow, loosen up and chill, so we can spend some time together bro._" Bad Po pointed.

"You are NOT my brother, and you never will be. Whatever, what are you even doing here anyways?" Po demanded.

"_I guess your smarts are still lacking, even after nine months. If you must know, you and I are the same person you moron. We share the same face, same fur, same figure, even the same mind. The only difference between you and me, I'm your negative side. I'm the monster that haunts the dark corners of your mind, I see everything you see. Know everything you know and blah blah blah. I even know of the history of our past…_" Dark Po trailed off and looked to the side, avoiding Po's gaze, like he was feeling bad for some reason, as if it was hard to talk about. "_I… I even know about what happened to mom. If it were me, I would've killed the bastard with my bare paws. Make him pay for what he did._" Bad Po admitted, his teeth now visible, his anger clearly shown.

"Killing Shen wouldn't have brought mother back, if anything, I'd just be stooping to his level, and I refuse to stoop that low and disgrace out mother's sacrifice as well as the other pandas' deaths." Po said, agreeing with his Dark self.

"_Whatever, you're still as soft now as you were then. No matter, you're still a weakling compared to me. And I'm going to prove it by kicking your ass, but this time, I'm going full out!_" Bad Po said while going into the same stance as Po. A dark aura was forming around him.

"What, what's going on with you?" Po asked in a shocked manner, surprised to see that a black outline was surrounding the darkside of him. "Y-you're glowing!"

"_No shit, Captain Obvious! Since I'm the darkside of you and this is our mind, I get an automatic power boost! So great job for figuring it out, you get a cookie, don't you feel proud._" Bad Po mocked, making Po grit his teeth in irritation. "_And this time, there ain't gonna be any of the bullshit crap you pulled that last time we were separated. Injuring your own body just to slow me down how could hell could I be so careless? Well not this time, since we're reunited and this fight is going on in your mind, I have the advantage! So out with it me, you may have beaten me last time with pure luck. But this time…_" Bad Po held his paw out, leaving it open and swarms of dark energy began to form, making a ball of energy appear in the center and hold itself together, forming to be exactly like…

"The Thundering Wind Hammer, how is that even possible?" Po exclaimed while looking in shock.

"_That's right Me, whatever you learned, I learned it too! Now you cheap bastard, as I was going to ask. You think can beat me this time?_" Bad Po shouted while launching the dark version of the wind hammer at Po with blinding speed. The panda's Kung Fu instincts kicked into high gear the second the orb was launched and he dodged to left, just in time before impact of the energy ball hit him. But instead of merely poofing out of existence, the moment it hit the spot where Po was, it exploded, making a dark sphere of transparency as it expand on the ground, knocking away the earth that was there and leaving a crater behind. Po landed and looked back to spot, only to see a crater in the spot where he was standing, and was glad that he dodged when he did. It looked like deflecting isn't going to do him any good in this battle.

"Damn it, this looks like it could be pretty bad. No matter, I defeated myself once, I can do it again. Let's go you fake. Get ready to feel the Thundah!" Po said while going into his battle stance, ready to face himself once more.

*Meanwhile in reality*

"Po, I'm sorry!" exclaimed a female voice, full of sorrow trying to apologize to her friend and lover, but didn't get the chance, for her dream of him and the young version of his dark self had ended. "Po, I had no idea you felt that way… I'm so, so sorry. No, that won't do, I have to say to his face and really mean it… I'm going to go look for him." Tigress said to herself while getting up from her bed, not wasting another moment to go find Po and truly make up with him. As she rose from her mat, only just now, she realized that morning had come to China once again. As she approached her door, preparing to exit her room, she could clearly hear voices outside her barracks, most likely they were coming from the hallway, and she knew exactly who was talking. Not finding any reason to stay in the confines of her personal space, she opened her door and left to the outside.

*A few minutes earlier*

"Morning you guys. Slept well?" asked Monkey, the question wasn't meant to be optimistic, but rather, sarcastic. "Cuz, I sure did… man, it was more like a nightmare."

"Yeah, you're telling me. I never felt so bad after having a dream like that; hell even nightmares aren't like that for me." Mantis chipped in.

"Usually bad dreams are meant to tell us something, something important and often a meant to teach a lesson, but that dream I had, I just don't know what to make of it." Crane added.

"I never would have thought that Po would still harbor those kinds of feelings about us… about himself." Viper said, making all of their eyes go wide with shock, surprise and realization that dawn on them. "Did… did we all just have the same dream about Po? It can't be. We all had the same dream? I didn't even see the rest of you, it was only me. How is that possible?" Viper asked her male counterparts. Just when one of them was about to explain as best they could, a door opened, directing their attention to it and they knew immediately who was coming out.

"Good morning sister, I trust you didn't have a peaceful night either?" Viper asked.

"Good morning all. And no I didn't. You guys didn't rest well either?" Tigress asked back. They shook their heads in the same manner, giving the tiger her answer. "I thought so. What were your dreams like?" she asked again.

"Why don't you tell us what your dream was about sister, I'd just like to know, and then I'll tell you about mine, is that fair?" Viper asked.

"I suppose. Well, I'll tell you. In my dream, I was standing in the same room as Po and younger, but darker version of himself. The dark part of him was filled with anger, sadness, resentment and malice towards us, I've never seen the level of loathing in Po, and he always so cheerful, jovial and happy-go-lucky. I mean, he's found Inner Peace, how is it that he still harbors that much despise for us… Back when he wanted to train here, did… did we do more than just discourage him?" Tigress asked the others, who were looking down with disgrace. They were disgusted and ashamed with their past actions to Po. But then viper spoke again.

"So, you had a bad dream about Po too huh, well that makes four of us then." Viper said while looking at Tigress, but the striped feline looked at the snake, eyebrows rose in confusion at the tree snake's reply.

"What do you mean 'too' Viper, are you trying to say that we all had the same dream or something? Don't be ridiculous, that's impossible." Tigress replied, not believing what she just heard, but the other four members still kept the same no-nonsense look on their faces, causing Tigress' resolve about the current situation to slowly dissolve. "Oh come on, you can't be serious! There's just no way!" Tigress exclaimed, a frown present on her face.

But the four still showed no expression.

"Okay, seriously, how the hell is that possible? You better not be teasing me about this, this is a serious matter!" Tigress said, her calmness thinning, yet realization taking its place.

"Tigress, do we look like we're joking about something like this? The fact that we all had the same dream about Po and his darkside, I think this is more than just coincidence if you ask me Tigress." Monkey stated, nailing the coffin on the tiger's denial.

"So… you're not making this up? We all had the same dream? What does this even mean?" Tigress asked; her frown now turned into a frown of concern along with her eyebrows matching the mouth to complete the forlorn expression she was feeling.

"Even we don't know, still creepy if you ask me." Mantis pointed out, still feeling a bit freaked out by the same experience that his teammates felt also.

"Yeah, you're telling me. Why don't we go ask Shifu, since he's the closest to being able to talk to Oogway, maybe he'll know something. I'm not getting my hopes up about this situation, but it never hurts to ask." Crane suggested, seeing the others agree.

"No point in standing around here, let's go. Oh, by the way, are the children up yet?" Tigress asked while seeing the three doors still closed.

"They probably are. Should we wake them?" Viper asked.

"No need, they were all up pretty late last night. We can let them sleep in. right now, we have some more important matters to attend to. Let's go." Tigress said while making her way to the doors leading to the outside, taking point. The others simply followed her right away.

**Bookmark #6**-

*Elsewhere, in the Hall of Warriors*

"And that concludes the tale of Lady Wind Song. As you can see, she was indeed a lady of virtue and kindness." Shifu finished while looking upon the lavender colored fan that resting upon its pedestal along with it weaponry brethren on other mounts.

"Oh! She sounded so amazing, mysterious and romantic all at the same time! What an amazing woman, I wished I could have heard her songs. They must've sounded so lovely." Līmīng mused while looking over the fan, her paws together and pressed gently against her chest, still letting the lesson of Lady Wind song's history replay in her young mind.

"If by 'Romantic' you mean sappy? Then yes, I agree with you. But seriously, using a fan, really? Not my type of weapon. I'd go with something that's more kick butt! Like… like uh… Those!" Qīānxī exclaimed while dashing over to a pair of ring blades that had the same design on each blade, and were parallel to its twin. "See, THESE are weapons for fighting, not some prissy fan fan crud." Qīānxī added.

"What are you talking about? Lady Wind song was an AMAZING woman, she sweet, caring, loving and by night, she was a butt-kicking, righteous defender of justice. SHE, WAS, AWESOME! And these fans aren't exactly weak as you think. They can cut stone, Stone! With just one slash. That is severely cool. Much more than you can say about some metal circles." Līmīng countered her sister while going back to admiring the fan. The more she admired it, the more easily she could smell the fragrance of cherry blossoms, which was odd, when Shifu was talking about it, he never once mentioned the smell, not him, Xiwang or her sister. She didn't question it, but something told her that there was something special about the fan.

"Bah, whatever. You go with your prissy fans sis, I'm gonna go with these babies." The elder sister pointed out while analyzing the weapons.

"In time students, in time. You will need to master the basics before you can master the advance," Shifu said while chuckling at the girls' ambition. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Xiwang was standing in front picture with his arms behind his back, his posture perfect while his striped tail was swaying from side to side. "I take it that you have taken a like to the portrait of the River of Flowers have you?" Shifu asked while walking up to cub, which drew his attention away from the painting and turned it to Shifu who was approaching him.

"Oh, yeah I am. I just surprise at what has happened to that area in the past. I'm amazed that they recovered from that. Still, I didn't know that there was a village nearby." Xiwang answered.

"Yes, I believe it was called the Village of Gentle Rain." Shifu replied.

"Really, how weird that they would name a village of the rain." The cub said responded.

"They named the village after rain, for the amount of flowers that bloom due the river that surrounds the village and provides life for the flowers and the denizens. Think of it as a metaphor for rain and much of it they receive." Shifu added.

"Rain huh? Ugh, I don't like water. It always gives me a hard time when I try to clean my fur. But speaking of rain, from what I heard, they've been getting a lot of rain lately, more-so than usual." Xiwang pointed.

"I, too, find that odd. As of late, they have been receiving rain, abnormally might I add. My greatest concern that the Village will be flooded. But I have no authority to investigate this odd phenomenon, for I have to receive permission to proceed. It can be a tad vexing from time to time, but that is our code as warriors and we always follow the code." Shifu replied.

"Code huh, I can see that. But you may want to explain that to those two." Xiwang pointed out while directing Shifu's attention to the panda twins.

"What do you me- What are two doing?" Shifu shouted while looking at the two who were now holding priceless artifacts in their paws.

"I'm sorry Master Shifu, but holding Lady Wind Song's fan… it just feels right to me for some reason I can't explain, and," she took a brief sniff. "I can smell the fragrance of cherry blossoms coming from it, can't you?" Līmīng asked while expecting it closer. As she did, it just felt like she had to something with it… like she was meant to, but not knowing the reason why.

'Smell?' Shifu thought. "You may use the fan once you master the basics behind it. And you young lady," Shifu started while turning his attention to Qīānxī.

"I just wanted to see how heavy it was, that's all," She replied while putting them back. "Gotta admit, they're heavier than I thought it thought it would be." She added.

"Because the blades were forged from actual metal. It is difficult for a child to lift such an object, because they lack to muscles to hold such items. I would appreciate the fact that you placed them back as I told you. Now let see if your sister can follow directions." Shifu stated.

"It might have to wait. It looks like she is about to do something." The elder sister pointed out towards her sister.

"What is she- What?" Shifu exclaimed at what he saw. Līmīng was fluently moving in circle motion along with the fan following and leaving behind a faint purple trail. Her body was moving fluently and calmly while at the same time making her performance look powerful and meaningful. Her eyes were half lidded, yet they showed power behind them, but it was kind of power that was used to protect others and demolish the unjust. From what Shifu saw, Līmīng had the same eyes that clearly, without a doubt resembled… "Lady wind Song. She had those exact same eyes whenever she performed her famous fan fan dance. Be it in battle or for entertainment. She is even mimicking the exact same dance pattern and she has not even met her. What in the name of the Gods is happening?" Shifu asked himself, but the answer would have to wait, what happened next would leave Shifu speechless. What Līmīng did next was that she quickly rotated her body around and launched the fan forward with her arm raised above her. The fan was spinning at a rapid pace, making it like a light purple blur and light humming sound was coming from it while spinning at astounding rate. It went a bit a ways before it returned back to her, as it did, she caught it easily and gracefully with one paw and gently placed it to her face, hiding her mouth and nose from all. "Dance of the Shadow Wind Fan? Līmīng, how do you exactly know of Lady Wind Song's signature move: Dance of the Shadow Wind Fan?" Shifu asked.

"I uh... I dunno. It just came to me really, like I already knew it without actually knowing it… Is that bad?" she asked, while placing her paws behind her back, while still holding the fan.

"No, of course. Honestly, I was greatly impressed by your performance. Just perhaps, you may be able to learn Fan style sooner than I anticipated. Good work, Līmīng. Now, why not place the fan back where it belongs, then you and I can make your very own fan. Is that alright?" Shifu asked.

"Okay!" she cheerfully replied while smiling happily, doing as she was told. While doing that, Shifu couldn't help but wonder how a cub knew something that she had never seen before. 'Odd, to do something like, she must be the… No, no, it could not be possible… could it?' Shifu questioned himself.

With Xiwang, he wasn't the least bit interested in what just happened, he was simply waiting for Po to return, but his worry didn't stop. Just he continued to think about what to do, the doors to the Hall of Warriors opened, and in walked The Furious Five, with Tigress leading. Xiwang saw his mother walk in and immediately smiled while walking towards her.

"Good morning Master." The Five said while traditionally bowing before the Master.

"Good morning students. I trust that you all slept well?" He asked while turning to face him, paws placed behind his back.

"Well, not exactly Master. It was a rough night, for all of us." Tigress stated.

"Oh dear, that does not sound like you. Would you like to talk about it?" Shifu asked. Just as Tigress was about to answer, she felt two arms wrap around her lower midsection and a muzzle press into her clothed belly. She looked down to see that Xiwang was hugging her, the sight of that right away banished the stress from early this morning.

"Good morning Mama." Xiwang greeted her while looking up to look her in the eyes. A smile was clearly on his face.

"Good morning my little snow cub," Tigress said while kneeling down to return his hug, while petting his head, making the cub purr a little. "Did you have a good sleep last night?" Tigress asked while looking at him.

"Yes Mama, I did. Thank you for asking. What about you mom, did you sleep well?" Xiwang asked.

"Well, mama had a bit a rough night. I did get some sleep, but I'm still tired." Tigress replied.

"Are you gonna be okay mom?" the cub asked.

"Yes. I'll be fine. Thank you for worrying." Tigress said while smiling at her son.

"Okay and you're welcome." The cub said before coughing a bit, and that easily caught Tigress's attention.

"Are you alright, you voice seems a little high. Are you not feeling well?" Tigress asked while resting her paw on the cub's forehead, taking his temperature.

"I'm fine mom, really." Xiwang chuckled as she petted the spot.

"Alright, alright. I'm just making sure. But that still doesn't explain why your voice is so high. Last night your voice was just fine. I don't know why it's different now." Tigress said while standing back up.

"Because Tigress, Xiwang; your son has taken his first few steps into becoming an adolescence. Congratulations." Shifu pointed out, causing the five's faces let go the expression of surprise and shock. In Tigress's case: Joy.

"Is this true Xiwang, have you finally started to develop?" Tigress asked while kneeling back down to him, making their eye levels meet.

"Yes mom. My voice finally cracked, now you all know." The cub joked while looking at the rest of them.

"Only a week and my little boy is already becoming a young man, I'm so proud." Tigress said while petting the cub head once more.

"But that is not all," Shifu added. "Today is the day of celebrating Xiwang's birth." The red panda added, causing them all to gasp in surprise.

"Today is your birthday? How wonderful! So come on, tell us! How old are you today?" Viper asked while slithering over the boy.

"I turned thirteen, officially a teenager as of now." Xiwang replied.

"How wonderful, you know, we need to throw you a birthday party. Oh there's so much to do. We need party decorations, napkins, bowls, a location, ribbons, and presents! Oh wait, what do teenage boys like for presents?" Viper asked while thinking to herself.

"For starters, no ribbons, that's something for girls, you're gonna need something more manly for the kid. As for presents, you just leave that to me, I know exactly what to get." Mantis volunteered, but Tigress immediately stepped in.

"Oh no you're not, if anything, Crane and Monkey are going to accompany you out into the Valley and make sure that you don't get any perverted ideas. I will not have my son subjected to that kind of material for AT LEAST another three years, and that's final!" Tigress growled while looking down at the bug.

"Alright, alright, no need to be hostile Tigress. Sheesh" Mantis said while holding up his claws in defense.

"Good. Glad to see you agree so quickly. Now, what else will be needed for the party?" Tigress questioned.

"Oh, Po said that he was going to bake a cake for me." Xiwang answered. Just as soon as he said that, The Five remembered what they had set out to do upon waking up. "But he's a little busy right. When he's finished, he'll make the cake." Xiwang added.

"Is that so? Well alright. But for now, Xiwang, Viper, Mantis, Crane, Monkey and I we need to talk to Shifu about something. After that, you can have your party, alright?" Tigress asked the boy.

"Yes mom. That's okay." Xiwang answered with a smile on his face.

"Good boy. Now, Master Shifu, there is something the others and I have to discus with you. Perhaps you can give us an answer." Tigress said while looking at her master who was approaching them.

"If you have a question, I will do my best to answer them. So long as you or the others do not disturb Po, for he is handling a task that requires his maximum focus." Shifu replied.

"What is he doing that is so important Master Shifu?" Viper asked.

"Well… I believe that starting from the beginning is easier than just jumping in midway." Shifu said while deciding to share of what happened, but leaving out most things that the Five did not need to know, not yet anyways.

**Bookmark #7**-

*Back in Po's mindscape*

Po was tossed back by the force of Bad Po's energy blasts, his large body was bouncing back against the ground a couple of times before skidding to a rough stop, leaving behind a trail of sand that part for his moving body. As Po struggled to stand, his breath was labored and heavy with tiredness. The fight between him and his dark counterpart proved truly challenging. His body was wracked with bruises; his muscles were tingling with a dull pain, his arms and torso were covered with scratches and he was bleeding from impact after impact from his dark counterpart's assault. He was bleeding from his mouth, the wounds on his body and from the corner of his left eye, which was closed while the other was opened and watching his dark self approach. He could feel his energy draining from him, bit by bit.

"_Hey now, c'mon man. Where's that 'Thundah' I was promised huh? We've been fighting for a while now and I'll admit, you've gain some slight skill, but there's no spark. Why'd you lie to me? Was all that talk for show?_" Bad Po taunted while casting mocking grin down to his counterpart, whose eyes were burning with hatred for him. "_Hey now, no need for that kind of face. I mean, Why so serious?_"

"I-I'm… I'm not done yet," Po panted while picking himself back, stumbling on the way up. "…I can… still fight…!" he declared while going back into his stance, sloppy as it was, he was able to hold it.

"'_still fight'? Dude, you got your ass handed to you more times than you would stay down, I've thrown you around like sakes of rice, I know all your moves and what you're gonna do before you do it. Face it me, you got nothin' left to give, I outrank you._" Bad Po taunted while folding his arms, having them cross over on another, and a cocky grin was on his face. The fact that his dark counterpart was gloating over him was more than enough to rile him up, to the point of charging in like a blind fool.

"I told…" Po placed the palms of his hands together while leaving the arms extended from his body. He felt the familiar warmth start to form in between his palms and he parted them. As he did, energy, in the form of a ball was forming the more he moved his paws away from each other, making it larger and larger until Po could no longer make it any wider. His arms were now arched with a large ball of energy in the space, was now more like a fireball waiting to be unleashed. "I'm not finished yet!" Po stated. But the dark doppelgänger was not impressed.

"_The Mongolian Fireball again huh. I'm surprised you didn't go through all that bullshit just to make it. No matter, it still won't help you anyways. And I'll show why._" Bad Po pointed out while doing the same thing his positive counterpart had already done, but unlike Po, the sphere was black and surrounded by black flames, looking exactly like the Mongolian Fireball, but only with darkness. "_Face it me, you're going to lose here, like it or not!_" Bad Po taunted while grinning arrogantly. At that point, Po had heard enough, he had grown tired of the negative comments and putdowns by his dark self.

He launched the fireball, wanting to so badly to injure himself, but sadly, it would not be as such. As soon as Po launched the fireball, so did Bad Po. A few seconds after throwing them them, they both collided, but when Po expected them both to inhale, the opposite happened with the other one. There was an intercession between the two. While's Po's fireball was inhaling, Bad Po's fireball was expanding, and neither of them were showing any signs of giving up, causing a contraction between the two that showed neither side giving up. Since this was taking place in his mind, leaving that kind of power alone would undoubtedly cause some kind of damage to him later on. He knew that defeating himself was important, but so was keeping his mind intact. Not seeing any other alternative, he would have to subdue the force. Forming another fireball and launching it at the contradiction spheres, it doubled the inhaling, weakening Bad Po's fireball. 'One more ought to do it.' Po thought as he formed and launched another fireball, tripling the sphere's power. Apparently that was enough; the force of three was enough to subdue the power, causing it to subdue and negate it, making a poof of smoke appear, meaning that it was no longer there. But just as Po realized that, he also noticed the Bad Po wasn't there either!

"Shit! Where'd he go?" Po demanded while looking to his left then to his right, trying to pin-point where his dark counterpart was hiding. "Where are you?" Po shouted while facing to the left, but still feeling on edge that something was creeping up on him, and he had no idea how to defend from it.

"_Nobody over there._" Whispered his dark counterpart, his voice directly in his ear, along with a mocking laugh, causing Po's eyes to go wide with realization that his other self was behind him! Just as Po turned around ready to attack, Bad Po beat him to the punch and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him off the ground with so much strength that was enough to make the panda's eyes go wide with shock while struggling to get free. "_Oh man! I can't believe you feel for that. How can you be so dumb?_" Bad Po asked while still holding Po up in the air.

"My sanity was at stake, I couldn't leave that there after I beat you!" Po stated while holding onto Bad Po's arm, trying to break his grip. Bad Po only sighed at his counterpart's response.

"_You still think you can win? I hate to break it to ya, but I've already won. Just look at you, you're bruised and beaten, you're bleeding from multiple spots, you're running out of energy and you're about to lose. So tell me, how does to feel to lose to your better half, Hm? It must suck to know that you can't beat me, that you'll never win against me. C'mon, tell yourself, what's going through your mind huh?_" Bad Po asked while still wearing a cocky grin.

"ot over yet…" Po said lowly, making Bad Po's eye raise in confusion.

"_Huh, whatcha say? I couldn't hear ya admit defeat._" Bad Po mocked while turning his head to hear.

"I said It's not Over Yet!" Po shouted while placing a strong grip on Bad Po's arm, making his doppelganger step back. "We're two of the same person; you should know that better than anybody. Heck, you ARE me, and you SHOULD know, that I NEVER give up, NEVER! I made a promise that I would never give up and fight to the very end! UNTILL THE VERY END! So c'mon me, It's time to play, Bring it on!" Po challenged, showing his dark self that he wouldn't back down, that he was going to keep moving on, but that didn't do much. It only served irritate him.

"_You damned idiot!_" Bad Po shouted while tightening his grip on Po's neck, making him causing Po to let out a sound while gripping onto Bad Po's arm, trying to get him to stop, but all that did was earn him a forceful throw to the ground, causing clouds of dust to kick up as he landed. Po was panting while looking up at his counterpart, trying to stand back up. "_Picked a great time to grow a pair didn't you?_" He demanded while holding his paw out, letting a black aura form around his paw, making the same kind appear around Po's already bruised neck, pick him of the ground and forcing him to levitate by his dark self's whim. "_So YOU'RE gonna beat me huh? I don't think you understand how this shit works!_" Bad Po brought his paw down with force, and at the same time, Po came down with the same amount of force, making him grunt in pain, but never letting out a painful cry. Bad Po did this a couple of time until Po was now bleeding again, this time, even more so. "_Go ahead and groan in pain, fat lot of good it's gonna do ya, cuz I'm ending this now!_" he threw Po down with another hard slam, and it caused him to bounce back a bit, while that was going on Bad Po's arms were spread and black flames were spewing upwards, vibrating highly. "_I was planning on usin' this on ya when I got out again, but since you're so eager to die, I'll indulge you. Take a good look, this is where you fall!_" He extended his arm and the black aura appeared once again around his paw, the same appeared back around Po's neck, only this time, Bad Po, threw his arm back and immediately Po was launched as well, flying straight towards him. Just when Po was close enough, Bad Po went into a round house upper kick, forcing Po to change trajectory and head up into the air while rotating lick crazy. Just when Po was high enough, Bad Po made the dark ring appear around his neck and when it did, he brought him back down diagonally, causing Po to hit the ground the same way, upon impact to the ground, he bounced up in the opposite direction, making him go back up just as high. Bad Po turned around and did the same process again, repeating it again and again for a few times.

"_Die, die, die, die, die!_" Bad Po ordered as he bounced Po around like a toy ball, increasing his damage. Upon the final slam, Po stayed on the ground, but that wouldn't last either. Bad Po, did the powerful and infamous 'Shameful Kick' making Po skid back few feet. "_You okay?_" Bad Po asked while letting out a sinister chuckle at his downed counterpart while walking over to him. When Bad Po approached, Po was still getting up, even after that kind of assault. "_What the hell, how are you still standing after that?_" Bad Po demanded.

But Po didn't answer; he walked over to his dark self, saying nothing in the process, this time causing his negative side to back up a little. "_Hey, c'mon man, say something! What are you pissed that I called you weak and shit, It's only cuz it's true. You're still not strong enough yet. Don't you see it yet? With what's coming, you don't have a chance, or the Five. Don't you understand?_" Bad Po pointed out.

"I understand," Po replied while stopping in his tracks.

"_Really?_" Bad Po asked.

"I do understand," Po said before moving quickly from his spot towards Bad Po. His dark counterpart, blinked only once and when he did, he saw that Po was now in front of him with one paw resting on his the other was extended behind and it was opened. "that you lose, right now!" Po declared while in such a swift movement, his paws began to work together. The paw on Bad Po's chest was now being poked by two Po's paw digits and in the other, it was making number signs in time to Po's finger and as this was going on, Bad Po was counting them each point that was landed on various spots of his body.

"_Zero, One, Two, Three, Four, Five… Six… Seven… E-Eight… N-Nine… Nine point hits… that's it… why do I feel so weak? How? I don't understand…_" On the last number, Po opened his palm and preformed a palm strike in the center, and the effects were immediate. Bad Po groaned out and felt his power siphon out while falling to his knees, feeling his energy begin to drain from his body while Po took a step back and watched his counterpart fall. It took Bad Po whatever little bit of energy he had left to hold himself up with just his paws. "_Y-you just poked me nine times… how am I so weak after that… What did you DO?_" Bad Po demanded, trying to get back up, only to fail and fall back down onto his front.

"**He done what you can never hope to learn, even if you two are the same.**" HuangLong sounded off while appearing above the two males, that radiant shine was the same as ever to Po, but at the same time, it was very welcoming to him as well.

"HuangLong! It's good to see you again!" Po exclaimed while looking up at the Yellow Dragon above him.

"**As am I Dragon Warrior, I am also pleased to present that you have passed the first portion of your Dragon Tribulation Trial. Congratulations on your commendable performance.**" HuangLong praised while smiling.

"_So, you managed to beat me, good job, not many folks can face themselves. So I guess all that talk really had the walk behind it huh? Well I'll be, never would have though. Still, took me by surprise with that move you just came up with that. What the hell was that anyways?_" Bad Po asked while still not finding the strength to standup completely, only kneel.

"**The previous technique that the Dragon Warrior preformed on you is known as The Nine Point Siphon Palm; Another of the Seven Impossible Moves you have learned Dragon Warrior. In total, you have four of the seven. You truly are a prodigy, and only at the tender age of twenty-five, very impressive.**" HuangLong stated while looking down at the panda.

"I learned another Impossible Move? The Nine Point Siphon Palm huh, well, you seem to know what it does, can you tell me?" Po asked.

"**Of course I will tell you. As you can see Dragon Warrior, it is called the Siphon Palm for a reason. It steals the energy of another through the Nine Points of puncturing. What you did was siphon energy from your Negative side and converted the energy to match your chi and replenish your lack of power. Some say the move is evil, but that is not the case. Since you have taken energy from your dark side, you changed to match your good chi. And how you may ask, using your chi that was gathering in your pawtips. When you pressed into his body, the invisible flow of your chi attracted his and left his body. And for the last segment when you placed your palm to him, your chi that was used to siphon his energy from him to you, became a small blast and overstimulated his flow, allowing the weak feeling to take place in him. That class of technique is very high and sophisticated, not even Grand Master Shifu can learn that. Be proud that you have learned that technique, and use it well. For even though it is powerful, it is also very dangerous if used in excess.**" HuangLong warned.

"for the sake of my wellbeing later, why should it be used not so much?" Po asked.

"**Using The Nine Point Siphon Palm too greatly will do more harm than good Dragon Warrior. Using that technique requires energy and chi from the user; namely you Dragon Warrior. If used far too much, it will mean your death. Be wary of your usage Po Xiao Ping.**" HuangLong warned, making Po, gulp in fear. "**Fear not; know your limits and you shall proceed finely.**" The dragon added.

"I'll keep that in mind. So, since I passed this part of this trail, when do we get to the next one?" Po asked.

"**You can begin once you have finished here Dragon Warrior. Go on, confront yourself, and we shall begin.**" HuangLong stated. Po simply nodded and walked over to his dark self, who was now sitting on his hindquarters and just watching Po come near him.

"_So, you learned ANOTHER Impossible technique huh me? You are full of surprises ya know that? Well, nothing more here for you to do but go on and get this over with. Well, good luck, you're gonna need it._" Bad Po said while holding out his paw towards Po.

"I don't need luck to help me; I Know I can do it. No doubt about it." Po said while gripping Bad Po's paw, feeling a warmth start to form.

"_Talkin' big again are ya? You really are my opposite. Well, go ahead, make use of my power, you're gonna need it for the upcoming battle. Don't go getting yourself killed, before I get the chance to fight you again._" With those final parting words, Bad Po turned into a mist and enveloped Po's body, before coming completely one with him, giving him his power. '_Remember, I will always be by your side, watching you from the dark corners of your mind, guarding your dark desires._' Bad Po said, his voice was in his head. Now that Po had accepted his darkside completely, the entire black storm had subsided, clearing the skies and revitalizing the grounds, bringing back that peaceful setting once more.

"Well, that was, unexpected. Ah well. Alright HuangLong, I'm ready to face the final part of my trial, what am I gonna do next?" Po asked while looking up at the dragon.

"**Eager to begin are you, very well. We shall proceed to your final part. In the final section of your Trail, your resolve will be put to the ultimate test. You will have your resolved tested by Grand Master Shifu.**" HuangLong stated.

"Shifu? Uh, isn't Shifu outside of my head and… you know… not in here?" Po asked. but HuangLong just chuckled at Po's answer.

"**I am very much aware that, Dragon Warrior. This test is going to take place from your past. When Shifu pitted you against The Five and himself.**" HuangLong stated.

"Oh, not one of my finer moments if you ask me." Po lightly chuckled.

"**Worry not. I believe in you. And with the skills you have acquired, I am sure that you can handle yourself, even better than the last time. Now, shall we begin?**" the yellow dragon asked.

"Now or never, let's do it!" Po declared, ready to go.

"**Very well, I will begin the starting point of resolution. This will be your final test, show me the endless depths of your resolve Dragon Warrior.**" HuangLong demanded while letting his eyes glow pure white, causing the entire area to be filled with a bright light and in reaction Po covered his face, his eyes squinting closed to block out the light. When he opened them again he could see that he standing at the exact same spot that outside of the Jade Palace, most likely the training area, and from where the sun was, he could tell that it was in the early hours of the morning.

**Bookmark #8**-

"So this is where my test is gonna be huh? If I'm right, this is the part where Tigress comes back down and I stare at her ass," Po said while looking up, just in time to see her land on all fours. He didn't need to know the look that was on her face, he could feel her sneer at him even though they weren't looking at one another. 'Then the debris comes down on me,' Po closed his eyes and he felt the stone rain land on him, 'A clump of stone lands on my head.' And just as he thought that, he felt the familiar plunk land on his head bounced off to the side. 'And I pick it up' Po said in his head while reaching down to pick up the piece of stone, only this time, rather than picking it up slowly and trying to hide it, he began to toss it up and down while resting the other paw on his hip, casually waiting for,

"Put. That. Down! The only souvenirs we collect here; are bloody knuckles and broken bones." Said a familiar voice, but Po didn't stop, he kept hand tossing the stone.

'There it is.' Po though while still tossing the pebble up and down, staring at Shifu of his past, he could also see that he had a slight hump. "Is that a fact, in that case," Po tossed the pebble and caught it again, only this time, as he held the stone out in front of them and his paw gripped the stone, his grip becoming tighter on the small stone until the small slab could take no more of the pressure. His paw clenched shut and stone disappeared in it; he gave an extra squeeze to break it down even further. When released his grip, the stone was there any more, rather, dust was now falling from his open paw. Shifu and The Five could only stare in awe at what he had done. He had taken on of the stone pieces that Tigress broke with both of her feet and crushed it with only one paw. "Now that that is taken care of," Po brought both of his paws together and began to clap off the dust, "Excellent." He placed his paws in the traditional fist in palm gesture, and cocked a grin. "Let's get started." Po stated.

Shifu now went from shocked to irritated, raising his boney paw and snapped his fingers. The Five knew what that meant and right away took their place on the side lines none of them argued as Viper took her place on the opposite end of the ring, facing Po, while Shifu took his place on the center sidelines with his paws behind his back.

'okay, if I remember right, Viper is going to trip me up, causing me to spin, use the tip of her tail to poke me up into the air, and the whip it again only downwards this time causing me to land on my head. Not this time, time to show them what I know about they don't know yet.' Po thought, preparing himself, going into his stance.

"Are you ready?" Viper asked, letting go a small smile, glad to give him a chance, but at the same time, feeling bad about what she was going to do to him.

"I was born ready," Po stated. With that simple phrase, she sprang into action. She whipped her tail at his ankles, attempting to trip him up, but Po was one step ahead of her. He did a no-handed cart wheel in the opposite direction while grabbing hold of her tail, pulling her along, making the tree snake follow the path of his full body turn. As he landed, he threw his arm forward and viper was slanged back to the ground, not even sure what just happened, she quickly turned back to look at the panda with wide eyes, then back to her Master and teammates with wide eyes and she too, saw that they were looking at the panda with the same kind of eyes. "Told ya I was ready." Po stated with a small smile. The tree snake had no idea how to respond to that, how to speculate what he did was even possible for his size, let alone the speed that he executed. "Shall we continue sister?" Po asked while bowing to her, with fist to palm gesture.

"Uh… I suppose, but if it's alright with Master Shifu." Viper said while looking towards her master, whose eye was twitching. "Master Shifu?" she called out, braking him from his trance.

"Uh, No, that is not needed. We shall move on to the next phase. Monkey, you are next." Shifu said while snapping his finger. 'How the Diyu, did that blubbering Panda pull that off? And with that kind of speed for his size? No matter, he got lucky, but that will only get him so far.' Shifu thought. Viper slithered off the training field and Monkey took her place, but not before walking over to the rack with Bo staffs lined up. He came back with two in paw, seeing that Po was ready to go.

"I don't know how you did it, but that was kinda impressive," Monkey complimented while tossing Po a staff, who caught it with one paw. "That too, but let's see how far you'll get with me." The primate challenged while pointing his staff towards the panda, who was wearing a deadlocked stare, but a smile coming into play. Shifu was standing on the steps leading into the Training Hall, his paws behind his back. 'Monkey is an excellent Bo staff user; there is no possible way for the Panda to make it past him.' Shifu though, only to have that kind of thinking shattered by the Panda's performance. Po was expertly twilling the staff around with on hand than to two above his head, then back to one while rotating his body. He tossed the spinning staff above him and caught it with one paw, resting it in the crevice of his arm behind him and the other, his arm extended outwards with his paw open. "Prepared to have your mind blown." Po stated while grinning. 'Hm, let see, he's going to try to psyche me out, by doing all those quick moves and where I'm most vulnerable. But's let's see how he'll react if I go first!' Po thought while launching, laying an assault strikes and swipes at the primate who equally on par with the panda. Where ever Po stuck, Monkey blocked, but it always came a second late, like he was having trouble keeping up with the Panda's speed and accuracy, but never doing exact damage to Monkey, as if he was toying with him, just to get inside of the the monkey head and trip him up, which was working.

"Huh, you're better than I thought. You just might be worthy of fighting after all." Monkey complimented while parrying Po's advances only to have Po strike back, harder than before, forcing Monkey to take some steps back while still still deflecting the attacks, staying on the defensive, not seeing a chance to go on the offensive. He, along with Shifu and The five were stunned at the performance. At first the Panda had not shown even the slightest aptitude for Kung Fu, and yet here he was, pushing back one of their best weapon's master, which didn't make sense. They all continued to watch the display go on between the two of them, the sound of two staffs clashing against one another, not even sure what to think at this point.

"Hey, this guy is actually pretty good. I mean heck, he even beat Viper on his first try. And now he's going toe to toe with Monkey, using the same weapon as him, AND pushing him back. Hm, he just might be what I'm lookin for in a sparring partner. What do you guys think?" Mantis asked while looking at the others.

"What is there to say, I mean just look at him, he's actually besting Monkey in a Bo Staff match, usually we have a hard time against him, but this guy, out of nowhere, is just overpowering him." Crane admitted while adjusting his hat and continued to watch the match.

"He even caught me by surprise by grabbing my tail when I was trying to attack. Usually you all go on the defensive when that happens, but not this guy. Wish I fought him a little longer. What about you Tigress, what do you think of him?" Viper asked the feline, but all she got was a growl for an answer.

"He has a high stroke of luck, I'll give him that, but as far as I'm concerned, He has no skills." Tigress replied while continuing to watch the fight. Even though she wouldn't admit it, she could see that he had some SLIGHT skill, but that was all that could see and nothing more.

*With Po and Monkey.

Monkey had to pull back a bit and catch his breath, for this was first time that he needed a breather against an opponent, especially one with caliber like this guy.

"Ha, I take back what I said earlier. You're actually good, had no idea you push me this far into a corner. You're not an ordinary guy are you?" Monkey asked while crouching down, taking this chance to catch his breath.

"Nope, I'm nothing like you've ever seen, and trust me Master Monkey, I'm full of surprises." Po replied while smiling, causing Monkey to chuckle in response.

"I guessed I pegged you wrong. You're actually a good guy and I had fun sparring with you, but I'm going to win this match. Hm, we should keep a score marker, that cool with you?" Monkey asked while going back into his stance.

"I'm down with that. Speaking of which, fighting with you, it's an awesome experience, even though it's only been one day." Po added.

"I know right? Usually when I'm fight with the others, it's like it's only work and stuff, but with you, it's a whole different feeling, why is that?" Monkey asked the panda before him.

"Does it matter? I am SO gonna kick your ass!" Po challenged, making the others eyes go wide, not from the foul language that left his lips, but the fact that challenged and claimed that he was going to win, but rather than being irritated by that, the primate only chuckled.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Monkey replied while waving one finger. "I'm gonna kick YOUR ass."

"Oho, it's on now!" Po responded while grinning widely, while going back into his stance. "Hit me with your best shot!" Po demanded while still wearing that cocky grin. 'Damn, starting to wear down, better wrap this up.' he thought while waiting for his cue to finish this.

"You want my best do you? Alright, you asked for it!" with that, he sprang forward to Po with a leap, allowing his body to be above Po's a good few feet.

'Most likely, he's wearing down too, and he hopes to end it in this one last attack, guess I better meet him all way then.' Po thought while releasing his guard and lowering the Bo Staff till the tip was touching the ground and directing his attention skyward, seeing Monkey begin to descend, the staff above his head, preparing to strike.

"An overhead blow huh? Sorry, but that's not gonna happen." Po said while waiting for the right moment when Monkey was close enough.

*With the others*

"He lowered his guard, has he lost it?" Crane asked in a surprised manner.

"He's got skills, but not brains sadly," Mantis added.

"An overhead attack? At the rate he's going, Monkey plans on breaking something. Shouldn't we stop him?" Viper asked, fearing for the panda's life and safety.

"It was nice to barely know him, Oh well." Tigress replied coldly, not caring what would happen to him.

"This is gonna be close," Mantis spoke up, seeing the primate close in.

*Back with Po and Monkey*

"He's close enough, here we go," Po said while raising one paw slowly while keeping his eyes on the primate, waiting for his cue.

"It was a good fight, but with this last hit, I'm gonna win!" the primate declared while going into a quadruple forward spin, building up the momentum and power that he needed to finish the job. Coming out of the final spin, Monkey used that power he had been saving and forcefully brought down the staff towards Po's arm.

'Here I go!' Po prepared just as Monkey was no more than few meters from Po. Right when Monkey's hit was about to connect, Po quickly raised his free paw to the staff and caught it bare, causing vibrations to ripple in his arm a bit, but Po felt nothing from the blow, if anything, it only served to boost his ego, but with the others, they couldn't believe what they just saw. They're eyes were wide open from shock, only Crane's beak fell open from the stupefaction. Not one of them could say a word. Heck, even Tigress was stunned at what she just saw.

"He caught it, with his bare paw? And he's not writhing on the ground in pain? Who… What IS he?" Tigress asked, but not getting a response. It pretty much went without saying that Shifu was indeed stunned at the performance that had just occurred, most likely his eye was twitching.

Po grinned at the stunned primate who was now back on the ground while still holding the staff with both hands. He couldn't believe what had just happened. 'How… How did you do that? You paw should be broken from that.' Monkey pointed out.

"Like I said," Po started while his grip on the staff started to tighten; he kept it up until an audible splintering sound was heard. It got louder and louder, until it finally gave way and snapped from its former place and no resting in Po's paw. "I'm full of surprise." The panda stated while letting the piece of bamboo fall from his paws. "Po: 1, Monkey: 0" the panda grinned. Monkey didn't know how to respond to that, so he too smiled and laughed lightly at his defeat, even though it was an enjoyable one, it only fueled his fire to beat the Panda.

"Yeah, whatever, good match by the way, but I WILL beat you one of these days, just you watch!" Monkey challenged while grinning widely.

"I look forward to it, but for now, I need a breather." Po said while letting the staff he was holding fall to the ground.

"Same here. Normally, I can go all day without breaking a sweat, but you Panda, you're something else. I had fun." Monkey said while turning to face Shifu, who was still in shock. "Master Shifu, I yield. I'm running out of stamina to continue. May I take a break?" Monkey asked while bowing,

Shifu quickly snapped out of his trance, and let go another cough while placing both paws behind his back. "Yes, you are permitted. In the meantime, we shall be taking the sparring matches inside to the training hall. Come along." Shifu instructed while leading way after opening the door to the inside. On his way in, his thoughts began to pour back in. 'How, how did he defeat Monkey? Viper, that had to be luck, but the way he handled himself against Monkey so easily, and the fact that he caught and broke his staff with just on paw. Perhaps Oogway was right in his choice… No! That's impossible! That has to be a mistake; there is no possible way for a panda to be that skilled. So he specializes on the ground does he, well let's see how he does against the air.' Shifu devised.

On the way in, Po had finally caught his breath and was ready to against the next Master, and he had a pretty good idea who it was going to be.

"Alright Panda, listen and listen well. You're next match is going take place upon The Jade Tortoise of Wisdom, and Crane shall be your opponent for this match." Shifu directed, making the bird groan and bug complain.

"If I have to, I guess." Crane replied while taking to the skies and perched himself onto the Tortious, waiting for his match.

"Aw c'mon! No fair, I wanna fight him!" Mantis pouted while hopping onto Monkey's shoulder.

"Patients Mantis, you will have your chance after Crane," Shifu said calmly, but that didn't appeal to Mantis, he just let out huff dislike. "Now Panda, do you need assistance to get on the Jade Tortoise?" Shifu asked.

"No thanks, I got it taken care of." Po said while turning abouface to the red panda and directed his attention to a wooden beam.

"And how exactly do you tend to 'take care' of it?" Shifu asked, wanting to see this.

"Like this," with that, Po took off with a running start towards the wooden beam that had be looking at. As he approached, he leapt, getting a good jumping height, which was about halfway up the beam. Upon contact, he managed to pivot his body around and leapt again towards the edge of the Jade Tortious and landed perfectly, even though it caused it to wobble back and forth. "Ta-dah!" Po cheered while smiling towards the red panda, which only said nothing but only sighed in frustration.

"Well, I guess that is taken care of. Now, take your stances," Shifu instructed, causing the two to prepare. "And begin!" he ordered. With that, both fighters went at each other with their best. They were all surprised that the panda was holding his own while at the same time, managing to keep his balance on the moving object at the same time. Even though Crane clearly had the advantage, Po was doing perfectly fine while keeping up with the bird, which somewhat shocked him. Normally, he was expecting the bear to have some difficulty with this level of performance since he was still new here, but that quickly went out the window as his fight with the panda was going on, he was even being pushed back a little, just like monkey.

**Bookmark #9**-

*On the side lines*

"So tell us Monkey, what was it like to spar with the panda?" asked Viper, her attention now directed toward the monkey.

"Yeah man, give us the details." Mantis added eager to know as well. Tigress kept to herself with her arms folded and continued to watch the fight sparring between the bear and the bird, trying to find some kind of weakness to use against him when her turn was available.

"Well, there's not much to say, but it was definitely a different experience then when I'm fighting you guys on a daily basis." Monkey answered. "It's more along the lines of something that you have experience for yourself." He added.

"Even though, my match against him was short, I can understand a little from what Monkey was talking about." Viper pointed out.

"AWW, now I REALLY wanna fight him!" Mantis whined, his interest now peaked fully and tension running on high.

"Calm down brother, like Master Shifu said, you'll get your turn. What about you Tigress, Tigress?" Viper asked again while looking at the feline, as did the others. What they saw on her face was clearly shock. "Tigress what happened?" the tree snake asked again.

"He… He just beat Crane!" Tigress replied while pointing towards the panda. The others turned their attention to the bear who was standing on the edge of the Jade Tortoise and was looking down into the center. At the same time, Crane was nowhere to be seen. But he was clearly bending down at the knees while extending a paw and talking to the bird.

"Hey, are you alright Master Crane? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hit you so hard." Po said while trying to help the stunned bird out of the pit.

"He already defeated Crane, but it's only been a few minutes since the match started, how can he be so fast, the fastest one here is Mantis, second fastest is Viper. Just who is he?" Monkey asked the others, but getting no answer.

"Maybe he really is the Dragon Warrior. Just like Oogway said." Viper stated, now convinced that he was the real deal.

"Preposterous! He's not Dragon Warrior and he never will be." Tigress growled out while clenching her fists

"But Tigress, you saw what he can do, he already defeated two of us already. My chance was to short, but still look at what he has done. If that doesn't say Dragon Warrior, then I don't what does." Viper pointed out.

"I still didn't get my chance to fight him. Just you wait; I'll prove that he's not the Dragon Warrior." Tigress replied.

"Get in line sister, I'M fighting him next." Mantis confirmed; his anxiousness was almost uncontainable. "Oh man, I can hardly wait…" Mantis added.

While that was going on and Po helped Crane out, they all were just in time to see grit his teeth and snap his fingers, gaining their attention. "We are taking this back outside!" he stated while forcing the doors open and walked out, he was clearly angry that his plan was not working. 'So far he's beaten three of my five students. How is this even correct? No matter, like my master said; if you want something done right, do it yourself. Still, I did promise Mantis his chance. Hmm, with his diminutive size, he could clearly overpower the panda's sight and defeat him. Yes, Mantis just may be the perfect opponent to win against the panda.' Shifu thought while chuckling to himself.

"Looks like we're going back outside." Monkey said while he and the others followed behind.

Once outside, All but Po and Mantis took their place in the corner of the ring, wanting to see how this would turn out, especially Tigress.

"If the Panda can beat Mantis, which I highly doubt he can, I'll show him just how wrong his decision was on staying here." Tigress said lowly, but it was easily caught be the red panda.

"Tigress, we simply want him gone, not out of commission." Shifu replied to her, even though the idea was very tempting. "I do not wish to have his father's indignation wrought upon my head. You will refrain from using excessive force. Is that clear?" Shifu asked. Tigress growled at the restraints that were placed upon her, but abided by them.

"Yes Master." she replied, still growling lowly.

*With Po and Mantis*

"So ready to go?" Po asked while going into his familiar stance and looking down at the bug.

"You kidding? I was ready the moment you beat monkey in a Bo staff match. Man, just kind of opponent, who I know about, are you?" Asked Mantis, eager to fight this guy.

"Like I said to Master Monkey earlier today. I'm like nothing you've ever seen." Po replied while smiling and going into his stance.

"Looks like I'm gonna find out then huh?" Mantis asked.

"You bet!" Po grinned. Eager to face the insect. Back then, he couldn't beat Mantis because his speed and his blind-spots. But this time, even though it was a trail in his memory, things were going to be different, that was for sure.

"Begin!" Shifu shouted, instructing the orders for the two begin. With that single command, Mantis quickly and silent ducked out of Po's line of sight, hoping to gain the upper hand… or thingy in this case. But he was sorely mistaken. Po was looking around, trying to find the bug master, his eyes darting back and forth, scanning the area, but never moving his head; he knew that that would give away his inattentiveness to Mantis, and that would leave him wide open. So he did the next best thing, he waited for his chance to come. From Mantis's position, he could already tell the Panda had lost him, but he wasn't looking around for him, which was odd, but that didn't bother him, he saw this as a perfect chance to lay on some serious damage. Quickly and quietly, he moved to the Panda's left and leapt with his legs extended, ready to land a quick, but that chance was denied, what didn't see was Po's darting back and forth looking for him, and when his vision caught a glimpse of the darting green heading towards him, Po moved his head back and out of the line of the bug's attack, which caused him to fly by Po's face, with a grin plastered. Mantis was confused but Po quickly used this chance to attack. By using only his paw finger and thumb, he flicked the bug away from him, and watched Mantis bounce a bit upon coming in contact with the ground, which he easily recovered from.

"Did… did you just flick me?" he asked, surprised that was knocked away so easily.

"That I did." Po answered while still smiling.

"Not bad, not bad at all. But I'm far from done with you." Mantis replied before darting out of Po's vision once again. But Po was ready for him anyways.

'he's going for my chin," Po said while pulling his back, causing Mantis to miss again, making that the second time, before somehow maneuvering in mid-air and once again evade the Panda's eyes. 'And he's going to try to hit me from the back in a few seconds.' Po quickly ducked forward, just in time to evade Mantis' hit, but Po didn't stop there. He pivoted his body forward all the way, until his feet left the ground, going into a full somersault, but Po didn't stop there, when he was halfway spun, he used the heel of his left leg and managed to kick the bug away from him again and landed perfectly back on his feet in time to see Mantis land back on the ground. The bug quickly bounced back and was on his feet once more.

"Seems that you're more perceptive then I thought." He said while smiling.

"Told you I'm nothing you've ever seen." Po replied with a smile of his own.

"I can see that, but I'm just getting started!" Mantis said while once again dodging Po's sight, but Po was already ahead of him.

'He's gonna go for my right foot this time' Po thought getting ready, when Po was expecting that, he didn't expect Mantis to trip him up, rather than going for the right, he went for the left. He got a grip on him and used his strength, he managed to lift Po and land him on his side, causing the Panda to let out a grunt of pain, but that didn't stop him. He picked him up, despite his weight, and twirled him like a stick. Even though Po was caught off guard, he quickly fixed that problem. Using his free foot, he mustered all his strength and placed his foot on the ground and used to the other to through up Mantis, about up to his chest, but Po kept going, he brought both of his paws together in a clap like fashion, encasing the bug, but not hard enough to crush, only to slightly maim, leaving Mantis disoriented at what just happened. Po opened his paws again while tossing Mantis slightly higher into the air. When he came back down at just the right moment, Po placed both open paws together and forced them to Mantis' body. The force knocked the bug away from him and once again back to ground, this time, near the others, who were watching with a stunned expression.

"How… how did you do that?" Mantis asked while trying to pick himself up.

"Like I said, I know what I'm doing." Po said with a smile. "You wanna keep going?" he asked.

"You bet I do. I'm gonna beat, even if it takes all day!" Mantis replied while charging after the bear, he was fired up.

*One morning and noon later*

It was now the afternoon and the sky had changed from blue to orange and the match between Mantis and Po had finally ended, with Mantis collapsing onto the ground. He had never felt so exhausted from simply sparring with his teammates, but the Panda however, that was another story.

"Okay, okay. I give up, you win." Mantis said while letting go pants of tiredness, he was clearly out of steam from fighting this guy. It's just like what Monkey said, fighting with this guy, it was a whole different experience. "Geez, Monkey wasn't kidding. That match with you, wow… just wow. But damn, I'm beat. Never have I been this tired after sparring with the others, but you. That does not apply." Mantis added while walking over to Monkey, hoping onto his shoulder.

"Glad you enjoyed the match." Po said with a smile. "It was an awesome experience for me too." He added.

"Yeah, I look forward to fighting with you again soon," Mantis replied. "Monkey you were right. It's like nothing I've ever done before." Mantis said to the primate.

"I told you it would be cool." Monkey responded, soon the two were talking amongst themselves.

With Po, he turned his attention to Shifu, who was looking at him with wide eyes. "I'm ready for the next match Master. Shall we begin?" Po asked while placing his fist to his palm, causing the red panda to stiffen and expose his clenched teeth. This only provoked Shifu's anger even further, to point where he had no choice but to settle this himself.

"I've been taking it easy on you, Panda. But no more. Your next opponent will be me." He said with a sadistic smirk.

"All right! Yeah, let's go!" Po replied, causing the others to look at him with wide eyes, like he had a death wish of some kind. "I've been waiting for this," Po started while moving his head from side to side, cracking it loudly without it killing him. "No more snarky comments behind my back, like you've been doing all day. Let's do it." Po challenged.

'He's a goner' The Five thought simultaneously.

Shifu was surprised by the Panda's bold challenged, but his his face remained while stepping into the ring.

"Step forth." Shifu commanded.

'Alright here we go. This is the part where Shifu spins me around like ball before slamming me to the ground and holds me by my ear and twists my paw too,' Po thought while stepping forward. There was a moment of nothing happening with him and Shifu just standing there. 'He's waiting for me to let my guard down.' Po thought, but with Shifu, he could tell that Po was waiting for something to happen between them, exposing his guard, which Shifu took advantage of. He took hold of Po's paw and begun to spin Po around like a batter of dough that was going to be made for noodles, but Po knew what going to happen next.

"The path to victory is to find your opponent's weakness," Shifu started, aiming to force Po to the ground, and expose his blind spots, but Po had other ideas. Just as Shifu was about to bring him down, Po cleverly used the moment that he had quickly gain and stopped Shifu's tactic by using his weight and forced himself back to the ground, landing on his feet, gripping Shifu's boney paws and forced HIM to fold his arms behind his back, making sure not to use too much power. But with that, Shifu was surprised the Panda was able to stop him, and bound him as well.

"And make him suffer for it, right?" Po asked while looking down at the Red Panda, shocking him and The Five, by knowing what he was going to say. Shifu quickly shook off his stupor and retaliated in kind. He quickly broke out of the hold and prepared responded to the Panda's move.

'He's going to flip me.' Po thought. And just as he thought, Shifu did. Using his strength, he lifted the Panda over head while also adding "to take his strength and use it against him…" Shifu said while bringing Po down, but Po was again ahead of the Red Panda. He landed on his feet, showing that he was not going to go down that easily. But he could feel that Shifu still had him by the paw.

'He's going for the Rapid Upward Kick.' Po prepared. Shifu spun him around once and leapt up to his chin and used both of his tiny feet to rapidly kick him in attempts to disorient him, but Po was quick, he used both of his paws and placed them in front his chin, blocking the assault. He did a few more times and grabbed his foot and spun around with him fully until he threw Shifu away from him. "Until he finally falls…" Po followed up. Shifu was shocked at what was happening, a Panda was keeping up with him and pushing back? How can this be logical? It just didn't make sense! It didn't!

"Or quits." Shifu ended while standing back up and moved a bit until he was just a few centimeters away.

"But a real warrior never quits." Po replied. "Don't worry, Master I will never quit!" Po confirmed. Steel was in his voice as the words left his lips. Shifu's eyes once again went wide, but this time with shock, his lips parted and a silent snarl left his mouth.

'And this is the part where I get tossed and kick out of the Palace, not this time.' Po thought. Just when the thought ended, Shifu grabbed onto his paw and once again used all his strength lift Po up and used it again to toss him up in the air. 'Alright here we go!' Po thought while coming back down, he changed the way his body was falling for what he planned to do. Just when he was about to be low enough, Shifu got a running start and went into a flying kick, which made contact with Po's stomach, causing him to fly towards the door leading out to the Jade Palace Arena. Just as Po was about to burst out the door, he quickly grabbed hold of the door handles and held on tightly, just in time too. Although the door opened, and Po's body was out, his grip on the door handles never ceased. He used the force from Shifu's attack as momentum to sling himself back in to the Jade Palace training yard, after he did, the doors closed with very audible slam while he let go and did five reverse somersaults and landed on his feet once more, arms extended and paws open. "Sorry, but I'm staying." Po declared, seeing the surprise on their faces, especially Shifu. None of them knew what what to say after seeing the display he had just did, but the red panda was not pleased it only served to agitate him even more.

"Why," he said lowly "Why won't you quit? Why do you resist?" Shifu demanded, his anger and annoyance were very clear, his paws were clenched tightly. Po lowered his arms to his side and his fists clenched, to the point where they all could hear the bones crack.

"I told you already. I never give up, NEVER. You can beat until I'm black, blue and Red in the face, I still won't quit. You can break every bone in my body and I still won't surrender. You can even call me every demeaning name you can think of, but even that won't make me back down. Listen and listen well. I don't quit when things look bad, I don't cower in intimidation from others, not even you. Mark these words and know my resolve: I Won't Be Stopped, Not here and NOT NOW!" Po shouted at them, his green eyes on fire and making it clear that he was not going to back down, simply because they didn't approve of him or Oogway's choice.

With those words, they all had given up on trying to make the Panda leave. For he'd proven himself with others aside from Tigress, that he was dead serious on staying. Even Tigress gave up on her chance to fight him and make him leave. Still that didn't mean she wasn't going to give him a hard time since he was staying here. But with Shifu, he had nothing left to scare off the Panda. No underhanded tactics, no schemes, no humiliating comments, nothing. This Panda had proven that no matter what Shifu did, he could not get the Panda to quit. He wasn't happy about it, but what more could he do? If he tried to fight him again, he would only be defeated again. Shifu let out a sigh while simply turned his back and began to walk forward, back into the main building with his paws behind his back.

"Fine, do whatever you wish, but DO NOT expect us to go easy on you during your sessions, you will work just as hard as The Five, if not, harder should you irritate me. Students, we are done for the day, wash up and prepare for dinner." Shifu ordered while leaving them.

"Yes Master." They all said while bowing to their departing Master. Once he was gone. The Five, aside from Tigress, approached Po with back pats and encouragement.

"Hey Panda, great job. I've never seen Shifu back down from an argument. But that was definitely a first. But wait, don't you have a name?" Monkey asked.

"Po. Po Xiao Ping." Po answered while grinning.

"Po Xiao Ping… wait, your last name is Ping, don't you have the same last name as Mr. Ping; owner the noodle restaurant?" Mantis asked.

"That's right, I do. He's my dad." Po stated proudly.

"Whoa, so your dad owns a restaurant huh? Think you can hook me up?" Mantis asked.

"Sorry, no freebies Mantis, but I think I can score you a really good discount for your meals." Po replied.

"Count me in." Monkey chipped in.

"Me three." Crane added as well.

"A meal at your father's place sounds lovely Po." Viper said sweetly. When they were getting to know Po better, the Panda could clearly hear Tigress growl in annoyance. Not from the fact that he was making friends, but the fact that they had accepted him as the Dragon Warrior, when before, they didn't before. At that point, Po had enough of that bullshit attitude of hers.

"Tigress," Po called out to her.

"That's MASTER Tigress to you, and what do you want?" she asked in a rude manner.

"Growling at me just because I was chosen to be Dragon Warrior and not you isn't going to change things, your best bet is to just let go and move on." Po replied, not in arrogance but rather with firm compassion and pity for her. But apparently, she didn't see it that way.

"What the hell do you know about how I feel? You fell in front of me, if that wouldn't have happened, none of this mess would be continuing, and who the hell do you think you are talking to me that way?" She growled out while unsheathing her claws.

"I'm the Dragon Warrior, that's who. And just because I was given this title, that doesn't make me better than the rest you guys. If anything, that just means I'm equal footing. Second of all, Even though I was chosen, it was not my decision." Po countered, making Tigress arch her eyebrow.

"What does that even? Since you're the 'Dragon Warrior' it's the greatest honor, and it's your duty to be the hero of the people." Tigress stated, her claws retracting back into her paw, but her anger still the same. At this point, Po walked away from the ones that were surrounding him and passed Tigress, only to stop a few feet away from them all, his back still turned.

"The Dragon Warrior? Hero of the people! I'm sick of all these duties chaining me down! I never asked for this responsibility or this title! Everything's decided for me! From how I live, to where I die! I'm so sick of it! To the diyu with it all!" Po declared while clenching his fists. At this point, Tigress's anger was dying down, and the others were looking at him with wide eyes, listening to every word that was being spoken.

"What do you mean?" Tigress asked simply.

"It's only been one day, and you're already giving me a hard time when I've done nothing wrong. I just wanted the chance to impress you and show you what I can do. But instead, I get second degree burns by you, just because I'm a Panda. So what, just because I'm this way that automatically gives you the right to mock and demean me because I can't change who I am? Well guess what Tigress, I am who I am, and there is nothing that can do to change that. You should know better than anyone what it's like to be different, to stand out from the rest and be ridiculed for it!" Po shouted while turning his head to the tiger that had her mouth open and a surprised look was clearly there. She had no rebuttal to return, how could she? The Panda was absolutely right. She did know how it felt to be different from the rest and want to impress someone dearly and was willing to go through anything to do it. She was slowly starting to understand him, which was odd. "But whatever, it doesn't matter what you think of me. I'm perfectly comfortable and content with who I am and what I look like and that's that. You don't like it? Take it up with the Universe." Po said, finally standing up to the tiger who just continued to look at him with wide eyes as were the others. But then he turned sheepish again. "Sorry, for saying those things, I was kinda in the moment." Po chuckled while rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey no problem, everyone has a right to feel what they feel, even it means pointing out the obvious. It's also a good thing to stand up for what you believe in. and just to add, you're the only one, besides Shifu, to stand up to Tigress and live." Mantis joked.

"I guess I can mark that as another victory." Po smiled.

"And how, now, let's get get cleaned off, and ready for dinner, I'm starving!" Mantis added.

"Leave that to me. I'll make you guys something awesome!" Po replied while grinning. The others agreed with that decision and decided to depart from the area to go freshen up and remove all the sweat they worked up. Patting Po on the back as they made their way inside, only he and Tigress were left. There were no words that could describe what they were feeling. Just when Po was about to say something, Tigress made her way past him and proceeded up the first step leading to the training hall, but stopped, confusing the Panda. Just when Po was about to try and say something to her, Tigress beat him to that by saying a simple phrase, which clearly surprised him.

"S-sorry for the way I treated you, won't happen again." Even though there was reluctance, she meant every word. As she quickly walked off, Po was still behind and smiling.

"I forgive you guys, especially you Tigress." Po said finally, feeling that kind of negativity vanish while closing his eyes, causing darkness to envelope his vision momentarily.

**Bookmark #10**-

When he opened his eyes, he could clearly see that he was back in the same field that he had started in, and saw a familiar Yellow Dragon above him, smiling.

"**Welcome back Dragon Warrior and Congratulations! You have successfully completed your Dragon Tribulation Trial. Well done Dragon Warrior, very well done.**" Huang Long praised, greatly impressed by the young man's efforts and success.

"It's good to be back, especially after my trial. And thanks for that. Glad you were with me the entire time." Po said to HuangLong, a smile was on his face.

"**Dragon Warrior, I am always with you, as I am with everyone in all of China. My element is Earth, even though I cannot be seen, I am always present. Remember that Dragon Warrior. Also, Now that your trial is over, it is now time to bestow you your powers that will be needed. Step forward Dragon Warrior.**" HuangLong ordered.

Po did as he was told and approached the spot he was told to stand in, waiting for further instructions. "Okay, I'm here, what now?" Po asked.

"**What you need to do next, is to close your eyes for this next segment, you will be feeling some slight discomfort in the process.**" HuangLong pointed out, causing the panda to shiver a little.

"Not sure I like that idea. Oh well, can't be avoided," Po started while closing his eyes. "Do what you gotta do." He added.

"**Glad to see that you understand, yet show no hesitation to do what it necessary. Now Dragon Warrior, extend both of your arms towards me, both of them parallel from pawtips to forearm.**" HuangLong instructed. Po once again did as he was told and waited for the next part. "**Remember Dragon Warrior, this next part will sting, but it will not last for long. Bare it and you will have your powers.**" HuangLong said, his eyes beginning to glow, even though Po couldn't see it.

"It's now or never. Let's do it." Po replied. Just as fast as that last word left his mouth, an intense burning sensation was coursing through Po's body, mainly his arms. This pain was like nothing he had ever felt before, it felt worse than being hit by Shen's cannonball, it felt like his arms were on fire and they were slowly consuming it, normally he's open his eyes to see what was happening, but he kept his eyes closed. Because he was told to, and the fact this pain was making him keep them closed as well. He felt the burning now traveling up the rest of his arm. It was quick just like HuangLong said, but the pain was now starting to take its toll on Po. Just when the panda thought he was going to pass out, the pain just suddenly vanished after stopping just below the hem of his shoulder. There was no lingering sting, no after pain, no sensitivity, nothing. That's all he felt. Po opened one eyelid to what was going on, but what he saw when he looked at his arms just left him speechless and his mouth wide opened.

"**I take it, you are impressed with your reward, yes?**" the Yellow Dragon asked while smiling.

"Wow, this is… and these are… HuangLong, what did you do to me?" Po asked while looking at the Dragon above him.

"**Simple Dragon Warrior, I have embedded the back of you paws with a Legendary and Sacred ore that I have spent eons crafting deep within my land. Dragon Warrior; Po Xiao Ping, I entrust you with The Anointed Paragons of Yin and Yang. I place my trust in you to keep these gems safe.**" HuangLong said to the Panda who was still looking at his arms.

"You mean two simple gems did this to my arms?" Po asked while expecting them. He could clearly see that figure of Dragons was engraved into his arms. On the left, a white dragon could be seen, clearly standing out from his black fur. The head was planted on the back of his palm, and it wrapped him, going all the way up to his shoulder. When he looked up its face, he could see that the Dragon had a kind face on it, whereas the other was just like the white one, only which it wasn't. It was black, which could easily be told, thanks to the white outline around it. And on its face, it looked ferocious and stern, but not evil, more along the lines of protective with a hard face. Po snapped out of his surprise, thanks to a question that surfaced. "HuangLong, how did this happen? Why are my arms like this?" Po asked.

"**These gems are not ordinary Dragon Warrior, they are crystalized gems that have been forged from the numerous conflict between my Mother and my Father, there were many of these crystal fragments, I have gathered them all and brought them into myself, letting them nurture over the thousands of millennia, all for this one moment. But for is beside the point. This is the effect of the gems that I had placed in the back of your paws. They are now the source of your powers should you proceed into battle, and will be needed for upcoming fight before you.**" HuangLong added.

"So, these are my powers in visible form huh…" Po placed his arms down and let out a breath that he had been holding in, until a grin grew on his face. "That… Is… AWESOME! This is so cool; these are my powers now, sweet, so c'mon tell me, how do they work?" Po asked eagerly.

"**I respect your enthusiasm, but they do not work in your mind Dragon Warrior, you must be in the physically realm for them to work. Worry, not, I will tell you how to use them. Should you wish to see what the Darkness has hidden, snap your left fingers to see in the light what is hidden by the Dark, Should you wish to see what the light is blinding, use the Darkness on your right to see what can only be seen when the Light is blotted out. Understand?**" HuangLong asked.

"Ok, I get it. So wait, if these marks appeared on my arms in my mind? Does it mean that they appeared on my arms in the real world?" Po asked. HuangLong nodded his answer, making it easier on Po. "So, there's a good chance the others have already seen them. Alright, guess I have some explaining to do." Po said.

"**Worry not Dragon Warrior; I have already taken care of that. Before your Trial was in the midst of beginning, meaning while you were facing yourself, I left your mind and informed Shifu of what would happen after you completed your Trial. To keep suspicion from arising, I had him use an extensive amount of thin wraps to cover the marks, from paw to shoulder on both arms, so there is no need to worry. That aside Dragon Warrior, there is another matter which I need to discuss with you.**" HuangLong declared.

"I don't like where this is goin, but okay, what do you need to talk about?" Po asked.

"**How to prevent the coming End and what is needed to do so.**" The Yellow Dragon stated, but that didn't faze Po, rather, it made him turn serious.

"I understand. What do we need to do?" Po asked.

"**Good to see that you understand the situation Dragon Warrior. What is needed to be done is that the Wu Xing must be revitalized in order to keep the world's balance in flow.**" HuangLong said.

"How do I do that?" Po asked; wanting to know what had to be done.

"**Do you remember those orbs that rose from the scroll and escaped out of the Hall of Warriors? If you do, know that I casted them out and to The Five, they will coincide with their natural elements, the elements of their personality.**" HuangLong admitted.

"I think I can put two and two together. Let's see. Viper's natural element is Water, Monkey's is Lightning, Mantis's is Metal, Crane's is Wind, and Tigress," Po chuckled out, for he could tell even if he didn't know it. "Fire, which suites her perfectly, the fiery temper gives it away quite easily." Po finished. "But wait, if that's their natural element, what about the elements you gave them? Are they gonna like, match up with their own?" Po asked.

"**You will understand when you take them with you on your journey.**" HuangLong pointed out.

"Wait, I have to go on trip? Well, I guess I did see that coming and whatnot. But wait, what about Xiwang, Qīānxī, Līmīng and Shifu, what about them" Po asked.

"**Lay your worries to rest. They are to go with you, for they also play a vital role in this as well.**" HuangLong pointed out.

"Okay, that's one thing down, but what about the Valley? All of us, just can't leave, what if the Valley comes under attack?" Po asked again.

"**Again Dragon Warrior, Leave the Valley to me. Using my Power, I will keep it safe from harm; I give my word as founder of the Wu Xing. No harm will come to your home.**" The Yellow Dragon swore.

"Even if you do, didn't you say that you and your brothers and sister are dying, won't that cause your powers to dwindle, speeding up your… passing?" Po asked in worry.

"**Even though using Chi to guard your home, does consume my power, I am the eldest of the five. I have been present since the beginning. My reach is infinite. It doesn't matter where; I will be able to interact with that specific part. Protecting your Valley is very simple for me to do; I will be able to last for at least three years. You have nothing to worry about.**" HuangLong pointed, putting Po at ease.

"Well, all right HuangLong, I trust you. Now, what this about me and everyone going on a journey, exactly where are we journeying to?" Po asked.

"**Dragon Warrior, you, The Five, Xiwang, The Panda twins and Shifu are to travel to the origin point and allotment where the day ends and when the day begins anew. Po Xiao Ping, you are to travel to The Abandoned City of Dead; Xi****ū****xí de línghún bèi yíwàng de wángguó (The Forsaken Kingdom of Resting Souls). That is where you must go, for it is the starting point of journey.**" HuangLong pointed out, he could see the Panda's eyes go wide at what he just said. "**I believe that you know of the area Dragon Warrior?**" HuangLong asked.

"Do I know it, HuangLong, EVERYBODY knows about that city. We do our very BEST to steer clear of that place. They say, once you enter the city, you never return. You're spirited away, plus there is a history behind it. The kingdom was involved in an ancient conflict that led the citizens all being slaughtered. All the people that had been set to protect the city still guard it hoping to actually alleviate themselves of their failure. In order to put the people of the city in their place, they were rallied into the city square where all the young and newborn were burned alive. So yeah, not exactly my idea of a place to visit, but seeing as how things are standing now, I have no choice. I'll go, as will the rest. Ugh, I can tell this isn't going to be pleasant." Po groaned out.

"**I know all too well of the tragedy that occurred there and I apologize for this Dragon Warrior, but you and your friends are the only ones I can rely on for this task. Believe me, if I could find another way, I would have done so, but sadly, I cannot, the Gods created you for this purpose, but that does not mean you cannot have fun throughout your life. Again, I thank you with the utmost gratitude.**" HuangLong thanked.

"Hey gotta do something to keep all of life from disappearing. So yeah, I'll do it. Hm, A destiny that I been planned for by the Gods huh? Gotta admit, that's pretty cool." Po said while stretching.

"**Indeed. Now shall I return you your body and the real world?**" HuangLong asked.

"Yep, got a party to get started. Let's go." Po said while grinning. The Yellow Dragon smiled and let his eyes glow white, at the same time, Po was engulfed in a white aura, before blinking out of Field of Pathways. Once Po was gone, a serious look was now on his face.

"**Forgive me Dragon Warrior, but it is far too early for you to have knowledge about that tiger cub or the twins' origin point. You and your mind are not ready for that, not yet. But you will be. Soon.**" HuangLong said before fading out as well.

**Bookmark #11**-

*Back in the real world*

"So we are all in agreement? If so, you are all to run out and gather party supplies. Understand?" asked Shifu, The Five nodded in affirmation, knowing what was needed to be done. "Good, now listen once more! Po will stay behind to make the cake for Xiwang. Qīānxī and Līmīng will assist Viper with the decorations. Monkey, Crane and Mantis, you are to run and retrieve what will be needed for the party down in the town. You have your objectives, now go!" Shifu ordered. As commanded, they, aside from Xiwang, Līmīng and Qīānxī, the three males bolted out of the Hall of Warriors and down into the town, to get what was needed.

"Come along dears, we have some things to get done." Viper said while slithering away as the twins followed her, leaving Shifu, Tigress and Xiwang behind, for they had agreed to stay behind and wait for Po, each of them having their own reasons. Xiwang was waiting for Po, because of the cake he's promise to make, Shifu was waiting so Po could tell him about the trial and Tigress was waiting, just for a chance to tell Po how sorry she was for treating him in the past. As they were just standing there, they saw a familiar twitch from Po, first it was his arms, it looked like they were stretching out, trying to get the blood moving and flowing after being in a position for so long. He used one of his wrapped paw to push himself off the ground, standing up stretching his arms back out while letting go a grunt of relief, glad to be back in his body again. He twisted his from side to side, hearing crack as he did so but after that last one, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Man, does that feel so much better," Po said aloud. Suddenly a thought or a previous promise came back to his mind in an instant. "Oh that's right. The cake, I promised Xiwang I'd make his cake when I was done. I just hope we have the ingredients to do so. Better get started." Po said to himself while turning around, just about to head towards the kitchen, only to see three familiar beings before him at the base of the steps, looking at him with three different expressions.

"Master Shifu, I'm done with my objective. Xiwang, I told you I'd be back like I promised. And Tigress, good morning sweetheart." Po ended with a smile, causing the tiger to let out a small gasp, but making her smile as well.

"Good morning Po." Tigress said simply, feeling her cheeks grow warm.

"Dragon Warrior, it seems that you have passed. Congratulations." Shifu praised.

"Thank you Master Shifu." Po replied while bowing traditionally.

"So Po, did you take care of what needed to be taken care of?" Xiwang asked, his tail moving from side to side.

"That's right little buddy. Everything went better than expected." Po said as he walked down the steps and placed his paw on the cub's head, giving it a gentle shake, making the boy chuckle, a happy face was present on him. When Po lifted his hand and looked over at Tigress who was simply keeping her paws behind her back, but she was looking at Po. He could tell that she had something to say.

"Tigress, is there something that you," Po started to say, but cut him off, by doing something that Shifu was not expecting. She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms his neck, not enough to choke him, but for him to feel the warmth of her body. He was being embraced lovingly by the tiger female, her muzzle resting against the crook of his neck, the same way how she hugged him back in Gongmen City. Po could easily tell it was the same, but given their current standing in the relationship, it was slightly more intimate. "Tigress, you alright?" Po asked, feeling wetness on him.

"I'm sorry Po, I'm so sorry for the way I treated you a year ago. I-I was so, foolish and headstrong back then, looking back on it now, I realize how wrong I was for treating you the way I did. I'm truly sorry Po, I really am. If you wish to hate the same way I did to you back then, then it's only fair that you do so. I mean you have every right to and,"

"Tigress," Po said, stopping her from going on.

"Y-yes Po?" she asked, a faint sniffle was heard by only him.

"It's okay, that was a long time ago, I'm over now, I really am," Po said gently while bring his paws to rest on her back. "Also Tigress, I forgive you." He added, making the feline, let out a soft gasp.

"Y-you forgive me, even after all I did to you?" she asked, finding it hard to believe what he just said.

"Of course. I love you too much to hate you Tigress, honestly." Po replied while pulling her back so she could see him grin widely. The tiger female blushed deeply, but smiled gladly and placed a quick kiss on his lips, not caring if Shifu was watching that. She pulled back and smiled once more.

"I love you too Po." she replied feeling glad she got that out after hiding it, feeling a warm sensation spread throughout her chest, like a warm, comforting flame. As they continued to look into each other's eyes, a familiar cough snapped them out of the moment, seeing that Shifu had been watching the entire time.

"Is that so? Tell me Dragon Warrior, you have fallen for my daughter? And Vice versa Tigress?" Shifu asked; the tone in his tone was calm and collected.

"Yes Master." They both replied firmly.

"In that case, you both have my blessing. I look forward to attending your wedding day, whenever it may be." Shifu chuckled. Tigress was smiling and Po let out a silent relief that Shifu agreed so easily. That or he was testing his devotion to Tigress. "Now Tigress, I believe that Xiwang is in need of some new birthday clothes. Why not run out to the town and pick out some clothes for him to wear tonight." Shifu suggested. Tigress nodded and wiped her eyes of the tears.

"Of course. I'll do that. Come along Xiwang, let's go see what we can pick out for you." Tigress offered.

"Okay mom." Xiwang replied. As the two started to depart, Xiwang turned back to Po and waved at him. "See you later Dad!" he called out before leaving. Po's eyes went wide in surprise, but he only smiled after that.

"Alright, be good. Look after your mother out there." Po called back. With that, they were out of his sight, leaving both him and Shifu there in the Hall of Warriors.

"Now that we are alone. Tell me Po, did HuangLong relay you any vital information for you to heed by?" Shifu asked.

"Do you want the long and dragging on version, or do you want the short and straight -to-the- point version?" Po asked.

"The short version if you please." Shifu replied.

"Okay. Long story short, the elements themselves are slowly but surely dying. And it is up to you, me, The five, Xiwang, Qīānxī and Līmīng to return them back to their former state. How do we that you ask, simple. We leave the Valley of Peace and we all travel to The Abandoned City of Dead; Xiūxí de línghún bèi yíwàng de wángguó in order to get started. He also said that he would watch over the Valley in our absences. There, any questions?" Po asked. Shifu was about to say something but Po beat him to it. "Yes, Shifu, exactly what I said, the Wu Xing are dying, and we have to fix it. And yes, we have to travel to The Abandoned City of Dead for the starting point, regardless of what the Capital thinks." Po answered. Shifu quickly agreed, even though he wanted to ask a question of why.

"Alright Dragon Warrior. I will take your word for the situation before us. When shall we leave?" Shifu asked.

"Early tomorrow morning, before the break of the dawn, when the rest of the Valley is asleep. That should give us enough time to get out before they notices us leave." Po said.

"Fair enough, I will pass this information to the Palace staff before we all head off to bed for the evening. Hard to believe that all this is happening, but you heard this directly from HuangLong himself. So it must be true. Very well, now all that is left is to enjoy Xiwang's birthday. And it if memory serves right, you promised to make a cake, remember?" Shifu asked while chuckling.

"That I did, would you like to help?" Po asked.

"I will pass Dragon Warrior. Cooking is more your forte. I look forward to see it tonight. For now I plan on meditating until that time. If you will excuse me." Shifu said while walking up to the edge of the Moon Pool and taking a seat, going into Lotus position.

"Oh yeah, sure. Alright then Shifu. See you later." Po replied while leaving the area. After his footsteps were gone from the area, Shifu let out a breath.

"So, the elements are dying are they? I still find that hard to believe, but then again, minimal proof has begun to show itself. I can feel it, even though meditation, that something is clearly wrong with the land. And that sword of Xiwang's, how can such an object, crafted from a pure heart, become so twisted with evil and malice… Clearly there is too much to think about for now. On the trip, I will give it more thought. But for now, Inner Peace." Shifu stated while going into the recesses of his mind and began to seek enlightenment while in the quite hall.

**Founders of the Wu Xing**

**Chapter 5/ Final scroll: Decisive Paths and Harmonized Power – Chapter End**

A/N: And it is finally DONE. My goodness, it's been while since I felt that good finishing chapter. Those long nights, totally worth it. Well folks, that's it for this chapter. S. Scroll of Earth is completed and S. Scroll of Wind begins next chapter. So the adventure begins next time, and shit starts to get real. Get ready you guys.

Well, not much to say anything else, but to review :)

See ya next time.

S. S… out.


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